Luigi Gets His Hero On
by RS-V22
Summary: Mario, Mario and more MARIO! With zero-to-none attention, Luigi's got all the downs. But when Bowser strikes back and captures not just Mario, but also everyone in Peach Castle, it's up to the thinner Mario Brother and a certain green dinosaur to rescue them! Has a "family" genre due to the Mario Brothers' tough fame relationship, and Rated T due to Bowser's vocabulary.
1. Mario, Mario, and more Mario!

**CHAPTER ONE:**

**Mario, Mario and More Mario!**

"Thank you so much for saving me...Mario!" Princess Peach cried with joy after the main Mario Brother had defeated Koopa King Bowser and saved her for the nth time.

The Mushroom Kingdom princess rushed toward her love, oblivious to the second Mario Brother lingering about in the corner; for all anyone but Mario knew, he was all but invisible.

"What about _me_?" Luigi complained in a quiet aside.

Nothing came up—the princess and a handful of Toads were still focused on "their" hero.

Luigi grumbled. "I fought Bowser too, you know..."

Nothing again.

Giving up, Luigi sulked as he watched, with blazing eyes, the Mushroom Kingdom denizens, their rescued princess, and his brother head back to the Peach Castle to celebrate.

And he was left there with no acknowledgement or credit. Again.

* * *

"Tell us what happened, Mario," one of the Toads asked "their" hero.

"W-ell, I have 'ta tell you, Toad, it wasn't easy," Mario said in response.

Luigi picked at his carbonara as he strained hard not to listen to the gushing Toads who were impressed with "their" hero hardcore. Well sure, he'd say that he'd been with Mario throughout the journey, and yeah, he'd hear a few praises from Mario every now and then, a handful of grateful comments from his brother, but seriously, would that be enough for the Toads to even turn their hero-worshipping looks from "their" hero and shift it to Luigi at least for a second?

The obvious answer to that: No.

Finally, after two long hours of "Mario, you're the real deal here," "You know, Mario we're sure glad we have you around here," and "Mario, you're simply the BEST," Luigi had finally had enough; he stood up and stalked out of the dining room. He didn't even turn to check if any eyes were trailing after him—after all, if there ever were any, it would only come from his brother.

* * *

Luigi went out of the Mushroom Kingdom castle and into the full moon night.

He settled to the Peach Gardens, lay down on the grass, and looked up at the full moon.

"Mario here, Mario there...Ugh!" Luigi groaned, then sighed. "Well, a guess I can't blame my own brother for all his fame—he _has_ been fighting longer."

"What's up, Luigi?"

The voice startled him—had it been Mario, he wouldn't have been surprised; it was so like his brother to go off, follow him and ask what was wrong.

But that was just it; that's why Luigi was startled—it _wasn't_ Mario. Luigi looked up to see...

"What's up, Luigi?" he asked again.

Luigi mumbled, "Yoshi, go away."

Yoshi ignored him and lay down beside him on the grass. "Having fame problems, my friend?"

It took a while for the plumber to respond; Yoshi thought he wasn't going to answer—he'd just been about to ask again—but then Luigi finally moved.

Luigi shook his head. "Just hero problems."

"What's wrong with being hero?"

He shook his head again. "A-no, nothing is wrong with being the hero—that's exactly it. I wish _I_ could be the hero at least just this once; everyone's trailing their eyes on _Mario's_ success, _Mario's_ battles, _Mario's_ adventures, the trials _Mario_ had to face. I tried going off with him, just to have a share of some of his glory, but nothing! All this 'Mario, you're my hero' stuff just won't go away—no, not that much; that's not really what I want; what I _really_ want is at least a 'Luigi, you were awesome' line coming from the others, but nope, _nothing_ at all."

Yoshi pursed his lips—it was times like this that got Luigi to push too hard and almost nearly get himself hurt. He tried to look for a way to help the thinner Mario Brother out and still not make him end up injured in the process.

But how...?

"You, Yoshi," Luigi suddenly said, turning his head to study the dinosaur. "You've been traveling with my bro as long as you can remember, right? Has he always been so...adventurous and heroic?"

"Almost always," Yoshi answered, then he saw the confused look Luigi gave him when he said 'almost always' and said quickly, "What I mean is underneath all the thrill of being the hero and kicking butts, he fears for everyone else relying on him; he even thinks about you, too, more than you'll even think to know. There's always the moment of doubt when he might not make it, and, if it really _does_ happen, the fear of having to look into your eyes, and everyone else's and knowing he was a failure to everyone counting on him—including you."

Luigi blinked—that was probably the longest speech a dinosaur had to give in the history of all dinosaurs and Yoshis alike. Then he snorted. "He's been hitting the video game tracks for 27 years and he's still a-going strong. What's he got to be worried about?"

(Note to readers: I found it amusing to include that "he's been hitting the video game tracks" line. You know how in some TV shows it's like the characters seem actually aware they're in a TV show or something? I decided to make a minor scene like that in Luigi's line. ;D Hehehe...)

"You'd be surprised, Luigi; not all heroes who've been going through numerous victories have all the luck."

Luigi raised an eyebrow. "Really, Yoshi, you don't say...?"


	2. Ain't Over Yet

**CHAPTER TWO:**

**Ain't Over Yet**

_In the Koopa Kingdom:_

"My king," one of the Hammer Bros. addressed their ruler, "it would appear Mario managed to prevail against our forces."

Bowser laughed evilly. "All part of the ploy, my fool. I'd counted on that goody-two-shoes Mario to win, and so he did. Now, it's time for Phase Two of the whole plan."

The Hammer Bro looked up, looking thoroughly confused. "My...king...?"

Bowser breathed fire at the place where the Koopa soldier stood, causing the Hammer soldier to jerk away. "You ignorant buffoon. The whole point of us losing was to make that shrimp think he'd won over us—which, I have to admit, is always—and let his guard down."

The Koopas murmured in pleasure and joy.

"So you wanted Mario to win?" the Hammer Bro grasped at the catch in his king's words.

Bowser grunted, impatient now. "Well, duh, _of course_! How _else_ do you expect someone to think he won, you imbecile?!"

"Oh," he mumbled, completely dumbfounded. "That was...um...nice of you, my king..."

Bowser breathed another round of fire at the soldier's direction. "_Nice?_ What is so 'nice' about fooling the enemy into thinking he managed to defeat us so easily?" he roared. "You're not very smart, are you, you minion? If you make a guy think he won, he'll let his guard down and it'll be a lot easier to get him this time around!" He scowled at the soldier. "That was supposed to be an evil plan, you moron; not a 'nice' plan!"

"I...uh, I see, my lord..."

Bowser snorted. "Whatever, now get out of my sight, you twit; your idiocy is getting into my nerves."

The Hammer Bro quickly scampered off, afraid to get hit by fire the third time.

"My lord," one of the Parakoopas asked, "when do we strike?"

Bowser thought about it for a moment, then he smiled. "Tonight, my minion. Let's go wait until everyone's all snuggled up in their beds, 'cause it's about time they get themselves a healthy dose of nightmare." He laughed. "Mario, you better believe that it ain't over yet."

* * *

_Mushroom Kingdom Castle:_

It was well over past midnight. Mario looked around Peach Garden and found his brother, still there with his faithful companion.

"Luigi, it's a-bed time," he announced.

Luigi suppressed a yawn that would give away that he wasn't sleepy yet. "Bro, I'm not tired yet—can't I sleep a little while later?"

"Yoshi?" Mario turned to his traveling companion through the years. "Shouldn't you be a-getting back to Yoshi Island?"

The green dinosaur smiled and shook his head. "Nah...I think everyone else won't miss me if I were to stay here just for tonight."

"Hmm," Mario thought about it for a moment, then said, "Well, I hope you don't stay up for too long, Luigi; we've had a long journey recuing Princess Peach. And you got yourself a good night's sleep just as much as I did."

_But_ you _had more attention than I had,_ Luigi tried not to say aloud, then immediately regretted he'd even thought of such.

As soon as Mario was gone, Yoshi stood up. "How about we take a walk along the Castle Bridge so we can talk about this a lot better?"

Luigi nodded, not bothering for a simple "yes."

* * *

"You know, Luigi, maybe you _can_ be a hero—not the way Mario does, but in your own way," Yoshi said as the two of them were leaning down on the Mushroom Castle Bridge, both of them staring at the water underneath.

"And what makes you think so, Yoshi?" Luigi asked sullenly.

"W-ell, you have starred in your own _Luigi's Mansion_ games, and you're also one of the leads on the _Mario & Luigi_ games series." (Hehe...Once again, I can't help myself! ^^)

"You think that's enough?"

Yoshi frowned. "Geez, stop comparing yourself to your brother, Luigi; it's bad for your image," he joked.

Luigi rolled his eyes. "Okay, okay, I get it—jealousy _is_ a-bad for me."

"All that green won't be good for you." The dinosaur laughed.

"Very funny."

* * *

Mario was fast asleep in the lower part of the double-deck bed. Just a few minutes earlier he'd worried that Luigi might have been starting another one of his fits, which could result to him trying _too_ hard as per usual, and he'd get himself hurt—every time.

He was already having the fitful sleep he hadn't had for the several weeks of his journeying to save the princess. Probably everyone else were having their own happy sleeping, now that the princess is back and safe.

It was then that a tiny _bump_ in the dark woke him up.

"Huh?" Mario muttered, blinking after the tiny movement in the dark.

There were mumbled hissing noises in the background.

"You moron!"

"Not so loud!"

"Great—just great! You foiled the element of surprise, idiot!"

Mario narrowed his eyes at the voices' direction. He got out of bed, and tiptoed closer to where he'd just heard the voices...

An elastic, metallic rope ensnared him and constricted around his entire body, preventing escape.

"A-what the—?" Mario hissed.

"Hold still," a Hammer Bro said as he emerged from the shadows. "Oh wait, it's not like you're gonna be moving anyway."

The other Hammer Brothers laughed as they came out of the shadows as well.

"What eez this?" Mario demanded.

"An ambush, pipsqueak. Did you really think you were able to prevail against our king so easily?"

Mario's eyes were wide as he registered what the Hammer Brothers were saying.

"Oh no!" the plumber thundered. "The princess—everyone else in the Castle—Toadsworth—Luigi—!"

The Hammer Bro who was securing the rope on him snickered. "You think we came here _alone_—as in, just us? The rest of our troops are elsewhere in the Castle, capturing the princess, her old geezer of a ward, and every other mushroom-headed resident in this place as we speak!"

Mario blanched.

"Looks like we're finally going to have the last laugh after all, Mario! If you think you've beaten us, well we got news for you—it ain't over yet!"

The Hammer Bro soldiers guffawed. One of them, the one who was behind the Hammer Bro securing Mario pulled out a Koopa shell-shaped transceiver of some sort and spoke through it. "Do you read me? We finally caught Mario, over." He smiled smugly and added, "Which was easier than I thought."

Mario's eyes blazed, but he couldn't do much as he tried to squirm his way free—which was virtually impossible—and witness the entire Hammer Bro army take off with not just him, but also every other resident of the Mushroom Kingdom Castle.

Just then, he noticed something (or was it someone?) missing among the hordes of Mushroom Kingdom Castle captives.

Where are Luigi and Yoshi?


	3. Luigi's Confessions and Desires

**CHAPTER THREE:**

**Luigi's Confessions and Desires**

Luigi and Yoshi were hidden inside the branches and leaves of one of the trees among Peach Garden. It was a perfect spot for confidential talks; while the one inside could hear sounds from the outside, people outside could hardly ever hear what would be going on from the inside—that is, unless they would think of going near, in which they wouldn't even dream of doing. After all, why waste time listening closely to the sounds within a tree?

"Okay, Yoshi, tell me _again_ why we're here, hidden in the treetop?" Luigi asked Yoshi critically.

"Because treetops are perfect for pep talks," Yoshi explained. "Hardly anyone can hear us talking from the outside."

Luigi gave Yoshi a "You don't say?" look.

"You can tell me, Luigi."

Luigi grimaced. "This is going to sound...pathetic."

"Maybe to you it would."

"I feel like I don't want to say it."

"Talking will make you feel better, Luigi."

The plumber took a deep breath and said in a hardly audible voice, "This'll be pretty much embarrassing."

Yoshi didn't answer; he waited.

Luigi squeezed his eyes shut, and, with his cheeks the shade of his brother's hat and clothes, he muttered, "Okey-dokey, here we go" then he continued in a much louder voice and with hasty words, "I really, real_ly_, _real_ly, _really_, REALLY, _REALLY_ wish that, _just for once_, Mario _wouldn't_ be the hero who'll save the day when trouble comes a-knocking! Do you even have _any_ idea how it is to _me_—being the one who's _always at the sidelines_ like some stick figure character or something who _can't_ even seem to defend himself or do anything right? And, at least for once, _I_ want to be the one who saved the day, on _my_ terms, and be the one people credit—to hear at least a 'Luigi' among their praises—to hear them say 'You're my hero' to _me_—to look into their eyes and know that, finally, _I_ saved the day! I'm not a glory hog, Yoshi—but I want to be the one who gets at least a 'You saved the day' praise from someone, even if it was all unlikely!"

Luigi ended his rant with tomato cheeks, sweat and heavy panting. He looked up to see Yoshi looking away, probably avoiding eye contact. By the likes of it, he seemed to be trying hard not to smile.

The thin Mario Brother looked at the dinosaur with suspicious eyes. "You're a-laughing now, aren't you?"

Yoshi didn't turn to Luigi, but he shook his head. "No, I'm not—I think I get where you're heading to, Luigi."

"You _think_!" Luigi scoffed.

Yoshi didn't respond.

"Sure as it is you're laughing," Luigi accused.

"You didn't even hear a chuckle," Yoshi pointed out.

"You may not be laughing aloud, but a-definitely you're laughing in your mind!"

"I don't lie about my thoughts, Luigi, unless I'm talking to the bad guys."

"Okay, so you're _not_ laughing, but you found my little tirade _amusing_."

"Define amusing."

"By amusing I meant it can be humorous but not humorous enough to go a-laughing!"

"Well then, you're wrong."

"Why're you avoiding all the eye contact, then?"

"I was thinking hard about what you said—it sure took a while for all the things you said to me to sink in."

Luigi stared, speechless.

"I know there'll come a time when you'll be the hero this time around, Luigi. It'll take some time, but it's not a long shot. For now, you're just going to have to be a wee bit patient."

Luigi groaned and muttered sarcastically, "Oh _joy_—I can hardly wait."

Suddenly, a loud _boom_ sound erupted, coming from the outside.

"A-what was that?" Luigi asked, alarmed now.

"It's from the outside," Yoshi said. "Let's try to check it out!"

The two poked their heads outside for a tiny peek on what was happening (while being careful to still keep their heads hidden among the leaves and branches).

And man, was it _not_ a pretty scene.

"It's Bowser!" Luigi screeched silently.

"But—but—how—?" Yoshi wondered. "Mario managed to beat him up good! And if Bowser were to come back, how did he recover so soon?"

There was a squirming figure lingering beside Bowser. Luigi's and Yoshi's eyes followed the movement to see that it was...

"A-what the—? It's Mario!" Luigi gasped.

"Oh no! He's captured Mario!" Yoshi gasped as well.

A Hammer Bro soldier who was beside Mario (which the duo didn't notice until now) spoke, "My lord, we have captured everyone in the Castle!"

"Did you hear that?" Luigi whispered.

"They've captured everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom Castle!" Yoshi whispered back.

Then, as if to give evidence to the Hammer Bro's words, many Hammer Bro soldiers came out of the Peach Castle, one by one, each of them with a captive—Princess Peach, Toadsworth, and many of the Toads of the Castle.

"This is bad—he's really captured everyone," Yoshi said, horrified. "What's even worse is that, this time, Mario's captured as well!"

Bowser looked at his captives and then at Mario. Then he laughed. "Excellent, my minion. Looks like we'll be having the time of our lives now that Mario's out of the way."

"Really?" Luigi seethed. "We'll see who's having the 'time of his life' when _I'm_ though with you, Bowser!"

"Hold it, Luigi," Yoshi cautioned. "You might want to take a closer look at who else Bowser brought with him."

Luigi followed at Yoshi's general direction and saw a battalion of Koopa Troopas, Parakoopas and even _more_ Hammer Bro soldiers!

"Mama Mia! Look at who Bowser brought over with him!" Luigi squeaked.

"If he brought over all _those_ guys, it means the whole operation is pretty serious."


	4. Unlikely Call for Heroism

**CHAPTER FOUR:**

**Unlikely Call for Heroism**

Luigi gulped. "When it comes to capturing Mario, it sure _is_ serious!"

The Hammer Bro pulled out the same shell-shaped transceiver he'd used when he captured Mario and held it out to Bowser, in which he grabbed it.

"Hey, pilots," Bowser said into the transceiver, "we're just about done here—get the Koopa Kruiser here, on the double...or ELSE!"

Luigi and Yoshi blinked. Then Luigi whispered to Yoshi, "With all those Koopas he's gonna need _more_ than just _one_ Koopa Kruiser."

Yoshi looked at Luigi. "What do you think?"

The plumber rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and said, "Let's a-go!"

Yoshi quickly held on to Luigi's arm to stop him in his tracks. "You expect yourself to just step into the scene and save the day?"

"He's got everyone! We _need_ to kick his butt good!"

"I know we should save the day but I don't think we'll last long if we face off against those guys!"

Luigi looked at the massive forces of the Koopa Kingdom and quickly backpedalled. "You know, Yoshi, you're right—maybe we should wait until they return to Bowser's Castle."

The green dinosaur sighed in relief.

Right on cue, the Koopa Kruiser appeared, ready to land, load passengers, and take off.

"Only _one_? Where will the others go?" Luigi questioned.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Luigi."

Before either Luigi or Yoshi could think much about the topic, Bowser raised his great, scaly hand and made a gesture with his fingers—probably a signal of some sort—and, in automatic response, the Hammer Bro soldiers surrounded Bowser, Mario, the Hammer Bro holding him and the rest of the Peach Castle captives and everyone moved to enter the Koopa Kruiser. Then the airship door closed, leaving the Koopa Troopas and the Parakoopas outside. They all stayed unmoving, their eyes on the Koopa Kruiser, which was about to depart.

As soon as the Koopa Kruiser set flight, that was the only time the rest of Bowser's troops moved and sprang into action. The Parakoopas who were left flying in the sky since minutes ago dove down close to the Koopa Troopas (who, for some strange reason, held out their arms) and grabbed onto the Koopa Troopas' arms and took off while carrying them, one Parakoopa carrying one Koopa Troopa each.

The duo watched as the Koopa Kruiser, the Parakoopas and the Koopa Troopas disappeared into the night, their mouths open and their eyes wide.

"I had to admit," Luigi said after a solid ten minutes of stunned silence, "Bowser really planned for this one, and a-man did he plan it _well_!"

"I don't disagree to that, Luigi," Yoshi said in a stunned voice.

The duo remained in another round of stunned silence for another ten minutes.

"What now, Luigi? We should follow them, right?" Yoshi suggested.

Luigi's mind raced back to everything he'd just witnessed about Bowser's assault—which, he had to admit, was very well-planned—then he shook his head.

"You know what, Yoshi?" Luigi suddenly said in a shaky voice, "You can go ahead and save the day; if you need me, I'll be taking care of the Mushroom Kingdom Castle—don't a-worry, pal, I'll support you with all my mental cheers and shouts!" And he turned to retreat hastily back into the Castle.

Yoshi scowled at Luigi's retreating figure, then he stuck out his long, sticky tongue and grabbed Luigi before he could escape, and took him back beside him.

"A-what gives, Yoshi?!" Luigi complained.

"Whatever happened to 'I want to be the hero who'll save the day this time around'?" Yoshi demanded.

"You're a-kidding me, right?" Luigi objected. "Take a look at all those Koopa Troopas, Parakoopas, Hammer Bro soldiers Bowser brought with him! I'll be Koopa bait for all I know!" In a panicked state, he unleashed a long cry of hysteria.

"Luigi"—Yoshi struck him across the face, causing the plumber to do a recoil from the slap, blink a couple of times, and snap out of his hysterical fit—"for crying out loud, you confessed to me _you_ wanted to be the hero just this once. And when I told you that you would have to be patient, you said, quite sarcastically, that you could _hardly wait_. And no sooner did you say that, you finally found the opportunity after witnessing Bowser and all his troops _kidnap_ not just _Mario_, but _everyone_ in the Mushroom Kingdom Castle. _No one's_ going to rescue them; _we_ saw _everything_, and so it's up to _us_; and this is _your_ time to go hero, Luigi!"

Luigi stared at Yoshi's demanding face for a second, and then he groaned. "Ah, do I really have to?"

"Luigi..."

The plumber sighed. "Ah, okay, looks like I'm finally getting my wish—but why does my wish a-have to be _so_ hard! Couldn't I have gotten my wish the easy way?!"

The dinosaur coughed conspicuously. "Well, there's the saying 'Be careful what you wish for.' "

"Thanks for reminding me," Luigi complained in a barely audible mutter. "Looks like we'll have to get to Bowser's Castle—ugh, I don't feel like I want to explore from World One to World Eight all over again!"

"Who needs to? What, so we can exhaust ourselves? Why don't we just hop into the warp cannon just close to Toad Town?"

Luigi looked at Yoshi doubtfully. "There's a _warp cannon_ just off Toad Town?"

Yoshi rolled his eyes. "The problem with gamers these days is that they seem to forget about the warp zones they unlock."

* * *

Yoshi and Luigi were at the warp cannon that was, as the former had just pointed out, just off Toad Town. Luigi appraised the cannon with wary eyes.

"If there'd been warp cannons like these, why didn't Mario just use them to save more time when he goes off to recue Princess Peach?"

"That's easy—what fun would the game be if you skipped all the parts? Exploring every place there is makes up for a cool gaming experience," Yoshi answered.

The dinosaur gestured for Luigi to get in first; Luigi hesitated.

"I don't think blasting off more than a hundred feet off the ground is such a good idea," Luigi stuttered, slowly climbing up in the cannon with shaky legs.

"Trust me on this one, Luigi—not all the time the fast way has to be pleasant." And, feeling a little impatient, he pushed the cowering plumber into the cannon, then hopped in himself. "Make room," he called down to Luigi.

No sooner after Yoshi had hopped in did the warp cannon move, angle itself up facing the sky, then shoot out the two like they were cannonballs.

"Yahoo!" Yoshi shouted out his signature line.

"Waaaaaah!" Luigi screamed out loud as the wind of their speed whipped harshly against him.


	5. No Entry

**CHAPTER FIVE:**

**No Entry**

After long seconds of pure adrenaline and wind being whipped across the face, they finally began to angle downward (which was a relief for Luigi in a way he didn't want to reveal yet until they got down) and eventually they landed in front of Bowser's Castle. Yoshi managed to land on a bush, while Luigi, who closed his eyes and screamed the entire time, landed head-first on a huge boulder just near the Castle door.

"Ow," Luigi complained under his breath.

"There," Yoshi said to Luigi as he hopped out of the bush and looked at the door of Bowser's Castle, "wasn't that quick? And it was fun, too—well, maybe a little too dangerous, but at least we saved time and we didn't have to explore Worlds and face a multitude of Bowser clones all over again, right?"

"Remind me again why I didn't care about these in the first place," Luigi muttered in a queasy voice as he clamped his hand over his mouth, ran around looking for an inconspicuous spot, and promptly puked his guts on it.

"Um, gross?" Yoshi suggested, trying hard not to look.

"And _that_, Yoshi, is why gamers seem to forget about the warp zones they unlock," Luigi said to the green dinosaur when he'd finished vomiting. "They'd rather explore the hard but safe way than the easy but sick way!"

Yoshi had to bit his cheeks in order not to laugh at the sick look on Luigi's face. "To be honest, Luigi, you kinda look as green as your clothes right now."

"Exactly," he snapped.

Yoshi focused on the Castle door to distract himself. "Okay, there's the Castle door—shall we head in or do I need to wait until you've barfed out just enough to move on?"

"No, I got it—let's a-go." And Luigi walked ahead of Yoshi to barge in, only to receive an electric shock coursing through his body.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaagh!" Luigi screamed at the top of his lungs as he got electrocuted.

Yoshi rushed toward Luigi's blackened figure, lying down on the ground, which was warm due to the volcanic activity that surrounded the area.

"You okay, pal?"

Luigi mumbled a few unintelligible words as his face remained pressed to the ground; it seemed as if he was saying, "It's too dirty and hot." Then he got up, shaking off from his charcoaled form. "Okay—is it me or did Bowser install a new shock feature to his security system?"

"Bowser hadn't done _that_ before," Yoshi said in a speculating voice. "That sure is something that has to come across a guy's mind."

"That's not worth thinking about," Luigi disagreed. "What's a-really worth speculating is why did Bowser think of installing it _now_, just when we're here, up and ready to break everyone else free."

"He must really take the whole 'capture Mario' thing seriously—after all, he and Mario have been rivals since the dawn of _Super Mario Bros_."

"If it was called '_Super Mario Bros_,' why didn't it include _me_?" Luigi demanded.

"It's up to Satoru Iwata for that," Yoshi answered in a dismissive tone. "But enough of breaking the fourth wall—let's save it for later—we need to figure out a way in!"

"Yoshi, if people who are very much aware they're in a show or movie or whatnot are called 'breaking the fourth wall,' do you think it's still called the same thing for what you just did?"

"What did I just do?"

"You are _perfectly aware_ that you're breaking the fourth wall. Is that the same thing, or is being aware that you're actually breaking the fourth wall breaking the _fifth_ wall?"

"Luigi, no one has invented 'fifth' wall...yet."

"Maybe someone will."

"Luigi, we are _off-topic_!"

"Oh? Oh yeah, right!" Luigi turned looked around the Castle when he spotted an open window. "Up there, Yoshi—quick, toss me up!"

The green dinosaur held the green plumber up (grunting heavily as he did), he spun a couple of times before he practically threw Luigi up into the window...

...or he _thought_ Luigi could enter when the plumber received another electric shock.

"MAMA MIA!" Luigi screamed as he got electrocuted—again.

Then, for the second time, he landed with his face flat on the ground.

"Luigi?"

"Why does _this_ keep a-happening to _me_?" Luigi complained.

Yoshi tried to get him up. "So much for infiltrating Bowser's Castle through the window," he sighed.

"Theez isn't fair," Luigi ranted. "Why doesn't he install that stuff when Mario goes a-rescuing? He always leaves his Castle security-free!"

"That can mean lots of things—either he doesn't want anyone to interfere with the fact he's finally got Mario good, or simply he doesn't like us."

"I take the latter."

"Well, we can't just stay here doing nothing—we need to figure out a way in."

"Yeah, but how...?"

It was then that Luigi noticed an inscription on the base of one of the Bowser statues that were on either side of the Castle door.

"Hey, Yoshi, did you see this?"

"What's that?"

"Hmm." Luigi examined the inscription closely and read it very carefully. "Several colors where rainbow swirls, a speckle in the seas you must head first. Among the forest mass and its trees you must be, to engage so the next destination you will see...Ah, this doesn't make any sense!"

"Now hold your overalls, Luigi, I think this might be a clue."

"A clue—as in, it'll help us figure out how to get inside?"

"That's exactly it!"

"Now what a-makes you think a riddle will help us out? The words mean everything and nothing at the same time!"

"That's exactly why we need to figure it out."

And the two were deep in thought now, trying to figure out how to bypass Bowser Castle's now-tight security system.

* * *

_Inside Bowser's Castle, deep in the dungeon:_

"Get us out of here!" Mario bellowed, his voice echoing off the deep chambers of the dungeon.

Mario was all alone in his cell—the rest of the captives were in their own little groups, in their own prison that were practically far off Mario's. Even Princess Peach wasn't alone behind her bars—her ward, Toadsworth, was right beside her.

One of the Toads who were in the cell closest to Mario spoke to him in a panicked voice. "Mario, what'll we do now?"

"For now we need ta' get out of here if it's the last thing we'll do."

"But you're the one who's done all the rescuing, and now you're here, trapped along with the rest of us!"

"Well, _I_ may be behind bars, but my brother isn't."

"Your brother...? Are you referring to...Luigi?"

"Yep—and he's not alone; Yoshi's with him. Bowser said he 'captured everyone in the Castle' but he only took in the ones who were inside the place at the time—Luigi and Yoshi were not."

"So that means...?"

"Yes," Mario said with fierce hope gleaming in his eyes. "I know Luigi will save the day this time around, and I know he'll be able to do it! I'm a-betting my next bite on my puttanesca that Luigi's on the rescue as we speak."

* * *

_Back outside:_

"So...," Luigi stifled a yawn, "have you a-figured out what the hey that riddle meant?"

Yoshi (sadly) shook his head. "Nope—I've got nothing."

"Well, then I'm all lemons here." Luigi plopped himself down on the warm ground.

"I...can't seem to make it all add up—'Several colors where rainbow swirls...,' " Yoshi recalled.

" '...a speckle in the seas you must head first...Among the forest mass and its trees you must be...blah, blah, blah, and all the rest," Luigi finished, bored. Then he frowned and whispered, "Wait...I don't suppose...?" He looked at Yoshi and studied him. "Yes, yes, I see what the first part might mean...rainbow swirls a-might not be taken literally..."

"What're you thinking, Luigi?"

"Take a gander at this, Yoshi—your kind come in different colors, right?"

"Uh...y-eah...?"

"You don't suppose by 'several colors where rainbow swirls' the riddle was a-referring to all of Yoshi-kind?"

"So..._I'm_ the answer to the riddle?"

"A-no, not really—that's not how I thought of it. But...when I thought of you, and added it up with 'a speckle in the seas...Among the forest mass and its trees you must be,' that's when I figured out the answer a-might just be in Yoshi's Island."

"Please translate."

"Look at this—'several colors where rainbow swirls,' that's likely to refer to all you Yoshis and the many colors you come in; 'a speckle in the seas you must head first,' that could mean an island. Connect the fact with all you multi-colored Yoshis and the possibility of an island, and...A-there you go—Yoshi's Island!"

Yoshi stared at Luigi, stunned. Then he laughed in a shock. "You know, Luigi, I never thought you had sleuthing skills until today!"

Luigi laughed nervously.

Yoshi stood up. "Okay, Luigi, looks like we're off to my homeland!"

The plumber stood up as well and nodded. "A-yup, to Yoshi's Island, all right! Let's a-go!"


	6. Meeting the Old Frenemy-Turned-Friend

**CHAPTER SIX:**

**Meeting the Old Frenemy-Turned-Friend**

Before anyone could even know it, the duo finally arrived in Yoshi's Island. It emerged from being a mere speckle among the waters to a mass of trees, mountains, and nature (which added more solid evidence to Luigi's theory).

As soon as the ship they were riding blew out its horn to depict the fact it was about to dock, Yoshi sighed with relief—as much as it made him happy being with Mario and the gang, there's no place like home.

"Luigi, we're almost there!" Yoshi called.

But Luigi didn't hear a thing Yoshi said—his face was buried in a waste basket; he was making moaning noises in it.

Yoshi saw that and looked away, muttering, "He's seasick."

"Shut up," Luigi muttered; Yoshi jumped at the fact the thin Mario Brother had heard him.

When the ship finally set port in Yoshi's Island, the thin plumber ran out before the green dinosaur could even take a step toward the exit. He shouted, "Yeah! _Dry land once again!_" He knelt down and kissed the ground.

Yoshi rolled his eyes when he saw Luigi's worshipping position. "Luigi, I know how much you enjoy the ground after seeing 'too much water,' but can we _please_ get a move on and look for more clues in the island—if your answer happened to be correct?"

"In a minute, Yoshi," Luigi said, kissing the island ground some more.

Yoshi laughed.

After a while, the duo arrived at the Yoshi Village. Multi-colored Yoshis were there (greatly supporting the 'several colors where rainbow swirls' part of the riddle), some of them in conversation, while others were simply wandering about. But that wasn't what got the two staring.

It was the expression on the Yoshis' faces—worry, grief, and near-panic.

"What happened around here?" Yoshi narrowed his eyes and spoke up in an alarmed tone.

A Black Yoshi looked at the dinosaur. "Lots and lots of things—it's true that Bowser's back and he's captured Mario and everyone in the Mushroom Kingdom Castle?"

"Uh...yeah..."

"Goodness, weren't you there last night when it happened?"

"Yeah, I was—I was with Luigi here." Yoshi gestured at Luigi behind him.

"How did you and Luigi escape from Bowser's clutches?"

"We...didn't really _escape_—how could we 'escape' when we were never captured?"

"Bowser didn't get you two?"

"No, except for me and Luigi, the Mushroom Kingdom Castle was practically deserted."

"How...did you two avoid detection? How did you avoid getting captured?"

"W-ell, uh, Luigi and I were...uh...In second thought, it doesn't matter—we were well hidden that Bowser's troops didn't get to us." Yoshi said dismissively, knowing Luigi wouldn't forgive him if he'd mentioned what they'd been doing hidden in the tree.

"Wow, that must've been tough for you two."

"You have no idea."

"Good to see that you're home—but, oh, you brought Luigi with you?"

"We're here for something important, though—I hope you don't mind me changing the subject—I'm surprised everyone here in Yoshi's Island knows about what took place last night in the Mushroom Kingdom."

"We were informed by a very reliable source—actually, that's what I planned to tell you earlier. She came here early this morning—it was still dawn—and told us about the tragic news."

"Wait—'she'?"

"Yeah, she's in your house—Orange Yoshi told her that she could stay there for a while and wait until you came home."

"Okay, we'll be seeing you, then." Then he turned to Luigi. "Quick, let's go to my house, Luigi."

* * *

The duo came were now in front of the green dinosaur's house, specifically in front of the door. Luigi stepped forward to open Yoshi's door.

Behind the door, waiting in the living room, was a creature that made the plumber stand aghast.

"WHAT ARE _YOU_ A-DOING HERE, YOU BLOWJOB MACHINE?!" Luigi shrieked in shock and disbelief.

The dinosaur-like, pink creature held up both her hands, in a restraining gesture. The fire cracking in the stone hearth of Yoshi's home shed some highlight to the big bow on her head.

"Hey, it's you, Birdo," Yoshi greeted cheerfully.

The pink dinosaur waved happily at Yoshi, and then she looked at Luigi's hostile expression with wide, alarmed eyes.

"Now, Luigi...," she began.

"There's a-nothing doing _here_ with you, Birdo, _you traitor_!" Luigi snarled viciously. Yoshi blanched—it was very unlike Luigi to display such a ferocious expression; at the same time, he was also intrigued behind the plumber's words; he'd called Birdo a "traitor."

"Hey, hey, cool it, Luigi," Yoshi interceded in an attempt to stop the sudden tension in his house. "I'm not having _any of this_ here inside _my_house, okay?" He then looked directly at Luigi. "What did you mean when you were calling Birdo a 'traitor'?"

Luigi's face was already a deep shade of red—from anger this time and not embarrassment—before Yoshi turned to him. He took a few deep breaths to compose himself, then answered in a careful tone, "A-what I'm saying, Yoshi, is that your funnel-mouthed friend of a friend—"

"Please do be careful with your words, Luigi," Yoshi cautioned.

"—betrayed us for one of Fawful's minions! I'll a-never forgive you for helping me and Mario out in the beginning, only to betray us by teaming up with Fawful's minion and fighting us! How dare you!"

"Forgive me, Luigi," Birdo begged, "he was just so irresistible! I couldn't imagine the thought of knowing I'd have to face him in a fight!"

"And so you picked the bad guy over us," Luigi seethed.

"I was blinded by his charm!"

Yoshi threw his arms up in the air and waved them frantically, like a chicken attempting to fly. He felt like he wanted to bonk their brains together, just to stop all the hassle going on in his abode. "_Cut it out!_ All this is _still_ making _no sense_ at all! _Where_ did the whole thing take place?_When_ did it all happen?"

"It all took place in the events of _Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga_. Oh, but of course you don't know about it, Yoshi. You weren't there in the game—well, actually, you _were_ there, but you weren't around during the fight scene!"

"Well, Birdo apologized already, Luigi," Yoshi said, wanting to make peace between the two. "That counts for something, right?"

Luigi folded his arms tightly across his chest and shook his head; his chin was set stubbornly. "No, I _still_ a-think she'll betray us—maybe not _now_, maybe not _later_, but _soon_!" He then looked at Birdo with narrowed eyes. "Ah, a-maybe you'll be betraying us for _Bowser_ now, no?"

"_That_ I'll never do!" Birdo shrieked. "I may have been fooled by that guy so I chose to fight you and Mario, but for Bowser? Never! I'd happily take your side even if I were to burn in the lava of his Castle!"

Luigi rolled his eyes. "Melodrama!"

"I'm serious!"

"I have an idea," Yoshi suddenly said. "We're here on a quest to free Mario and everyone else held captive in Bowser's Castle, right?"

Luigi frowned. "Yeah, so...?"

Yoshi turned to Birdo. "We're here in Yoshi's Island to look for a clue that just might be around the place. Some of the lines said 'among the forest mass and its trees you must be,' and Luigi was hoping there's a clue in the forest of Yoshi's Island. And since you're here, think you can help us out?"

Birdo nodded excitedly. "Of course, of course—I'd be happy to!"

"A-no way, Yoshi, how could you?" the thin Mario Brother moaned.

Birdo looked at Luigi, worried.

"Ah, fine!" Luigi groaned. "Let's a-GO!" His tone wasn't as enthusiastic as before; he sounded exasperated now. "Go and bring funnel-mouth, Yoshi, but keep her away from me!" And he took the lead, stomping out of Yoshi's house and away into the forest.

Yoshi followed, and so did Birdo, but she wasn't as excited now.

"Yoshi," she said quietly, "you think this is such a good idea? Luigi's seeing red in me."

"Don't worry, Birdo," Yoshi said soothingly. "One of the reasons I suggested you help us out is that maybe, if we succeed in this whole thing, Luigi just might reconsider everything he said about you."

Birdo thought about that, and then she nodded once with full determination. "Okay, Yoshi, let's go and see what lies ahead of us in the forest!"


	7. Among the Mass of Green

**CHAPTER SEVEN:**

**Among the Mass of Green**

Luigi was still persistently leading the way—partially because he knew that if he led the way, he'd have zero-to-none chance of accidentally looking back and seeing Birdo even for just a glimpse.

Behind him, Birdo and Yoshi were following the green plumber quietly, with a grimace on both their faces.

"Looks like this won't be much of an easy thing to do," Yoshi commented.

"What's not easy—finding the clue that just might be here in Yoshi's Island?" Birdo asked.

"No, not that—it's having Luigi reconsider his old thoughts about you," the green dinosaur sighed.

Birdo sighed, too. "You didn't have to do this, Yoshi—you had nothing to do with what made Luigi see me this way; and second, I deserve whatever he thinks about me."

Yoshi shook his head. "I don't want it that way—Birdo, you're my friend, and I dunno about you, but it would be a wee bit too hard on my part if I were to go on as a go-between with two feuding friends."

"It doesn't count as a feud if only one side is opposed to the other and it doesn't work vice versa."

"Yeah, that's just about true."

* * *

_Koopa Kingdom:_

"So, my pathetic minion," Bowser addressed to one of the Hammer Bro soldiers, "how's my prisoner going?"

The Hammer Bro looked up at Bowser's expectant (and impatient) face. "Huh? Oh, uh, sir, didn't we capture more than one? Which one are you referring to?"

The Koopa King groaned in mock tragedy. "You imbecile! You should know _perfectly_ well I'm referring to that pipsqueak _Mario_! And _you_, of all people, should know that—considering that _you_ were the one who captured him!"

The Hammer Bro blanched at the viciousness of his king's voice. "Of course, of course, sir!"

"_Well...?_ Where's the status report? How's that goody-two-shoes Mario?"

"He's still behind bars, and we have two times the security on him as compared to the rest."

"Good—if that rotten twerp escapes, everyone will eventually follow; it's only Mario who you'll need to really keep in check—wait, in second thought, double the security on the princess, too!"

"What—the...princess? Are you referring to...Princess Peach?"

"Well, duh, who else, stupid? She seems to pack quite a punch despite being a girl—remember when we got Mario in _Super Princess Peach_?"

"Oh yes, sir—she managed to defeat you and rescue the rest."

Bowser grunted in irritation from the memory. "Yeah, yeah, you go and double the security on the princess—forget about those mushroom-headed losers!"

"Yes, my king."

* * *

_Within the trees of the Yoshi's Island forest:_

"Among the forest mass you must head first...," Luigi chanted that part of the riddle; he'd done that repeatedly to himself until Yoshi told him that there were just too many trees and shrubs to notice even the slightest difference in the surroundings.

"You know, Luigi, it's not that I'm starting to think you were wrong in that riddle, it's just that...we're not getting anything with just walking among the trees for more than a hour now," Yoshi said.

Luigi nodded wearily. "Yeah, you're right. But still—I have a feeling we're on the right track by being here in Yoshi's Island. I know—how 'bout we take a break?"

Yoshi beamed. "Sounds good to me—I'm starving!"

All three settled themselves near a tree and sat down on the grass.

"Ah," Luigi sighed as he threw his head back; he laughed when he suddenly heard his grumbling stomach. "Okay, anything to eat here, Yoshi?"

Yoshi looked pointedly at the nearby bush that was the closest to Birdo. "The berries over there are actually pretty good. Just don't try to pick anything else."

"Okay," Luigi said sullenly as soon as he found out the food was near Birdo. He stood up and walked past her, brusquely saying, "_Excuse_ a-me, Birdo." He said her name in an acidic tone.

Birdo looked after the green plumber with an expression that was a mixture of hurt and mild irritation.

Yoshi noticed that, and said quickly, "Uh, don't worry, Birdo; Luigi's really like that—when he's hungry, he's actually very cranky!"

The pink dinosaur frowned at Yoshi.

"I'm back," Luigi said; his overalls pocket was full of berries. He walked past Birdo again, not looking at her.

"Mmmm," Yoshi murmured in approval, "let's go eat!"

"Don't worry, there's plenty for everyone!" Luigi said the words like he was only referring to him and Yoshi.

Birdo was scowling at Luigi now. Yoshi saw that and immediately made a gesture that said, _It's 'cause he's hungry_.

"Uh, Luigi," Yoshi said, internally racking his brain for something that could help make both his friends feel comfortable with each other, "go ahead and eat. You must be pretty hungry."

"Okay," Luigi said as he took out one berry and ate it. He chewed twice, and swallowed. Then he said, "These berries are absolutely _dee-lish_, Yoshi! Good to know I have someone to count on, you know!" He ate another berry and continued, "Someone who—oh, I dunno—won't betray you for anyone! You're a real friend of a friend, Yoshi! Unlike _some_ people!" His tone was pointed directly at Birdo, who was clearly fuming now.

Yoshi waved his arms frantically, his eyes on Birdo's angry expression. "Luigi, uh, please do bite your tongue!"

"A-hold it, Yoshi, I'm not done—just listen to this! You've been helping us out since our baby years, and you'd cross pools of lava for us! Oh, you're a great guy, Yoshi! At least _you_ don't just fall for a guy who I doubt would even like you back!"

"Luigi, you should—Watch out!"

"Huh?"

The thin Mario Brother turned around just in time to see Birdo suck him in her snout, which he neatly dodged. He pointed at her accusingly, "A-ha—so it was _all_ a set up! Don't trust her, Yoshi; you just witnessed another betrayal!"

"Actually, pal," the green dinosaur clarified, "that wasn't really a betrayal, just a violent reaction from all your ranting."

"I did _not_ rant!"

"Well, you _were_ trying to indirectly tear Birdo apart."

"It's not _my_ fault it's making _her_ feel bad."

"Okay—that's _it_!" Birdo turned her back on the duo and started to walk away. "I'm leaving—I don't want any part of this!"

"Wait—don't go; you just might help us!" Yoshi begged.

"Yoshi, it's only going to be hard if Luigi and I are this close to each other—it's better if I'm not around where he is."

"_Exactly_," Luigi snapped. "Good riddance!"

"Bye, Yoshi," Birdo said as she continued walking away. "Good luck on whatever you and Luigi are up to."

"Please, Birdo—don't go!" Yoshi begged in a higher voice.

"Nice seeing you." Luigi sneered. "Go have fun with Fawful's—_Aah_!"

Birdo stopped cold and spun around to see something grab Luigi. "Huh?"

Yoshi followed the direction of Birdo's stare. "What was _that_?"


	8. Fighting the Area

**CHAPTER EIGHT:**

**Fighting the Area**

Both Yoshi and Birdo looked at the soil-coated figure that grabbed the screaming Luigi.

"Help me!" the plumber screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Oh, no!" Yoshi gasped. "That...soil-thing creature got Luigi!"

"What _is_ that creature, anyway?!" Birdo asked.

"I have no idea."

"I don't suppose you've seen a glimpse of it somewhere in your adventures with Mario?"

"Nope, only now—I haven't seen that thing around Yoshi's Island either."

Luigi cleared his throat. "A-look, you—if you two are gonna talk and talk like that, then sure as heck I'll be a-dinner by now!"

"Birdo," Yoshi said to his pink dinosaur friend, "we need to find a way to save Luigi."

Birdo nodded. "W-ell, for starters, we need to be able to make that _thing_ let go of Luigi."

Yoshi looked at the thrashing plumber for a fraction of a second, and then nodded in agreement. "I second the motion."

The green dinosaur studied the being, all while looking for a way to make it let go of its hostage. The creature's entire frame seems to be entirely coated in soil, and it was _huge_. Yoshi didn't have to look from head to toe to determine its size—its arm alone was fifty feet long!

"Where's the rest of its body?" Birdo asked. "The way I see it, Luigi's being grabbed by a giant arm, and—"

An eye mysteriously appeared on the ground by the spot Birdo was standing, causing the pink dinosaur to stop her sentence cold and jerk away.

Yoshi stared after his pink friend, and blanched. "Where'd the eye come from?!"

"I don't know!" Birdo gasped.

The eye immediately closed just before Yoshi could even take a step closer to fully examine it, causing the dinosaur duo to look at each other in confusion.

"What was _that_ all about?" Birdo asked.

"I...I'm not...really sure...," Yoshi answered.

"Can I say something?"

Both Birdo and Yoshi looked up to see Luigi looking down at them with his eyes wide with both shock and realization.

"What is it, pal?" Yoshi asked.

"I dunno about you, Yoshi, but from up here, I have a feeling we're not dealing with a giant arm."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that when I saw that eye open near Birdo the Funnel-Snout—"

"Watch it," Birdo seethed, disbelieved that Luigi could still take a chance to insult her even at a time like this.

Yoshi facepalmed himself.

"—I'm a-starting to wonder: Could it be possible that _this whole area_ is the bad guy? I mean, when you a-put it together, Yoshi, it makes sense. 'Among the forest mass and its trees you must be, _to engage_ so the next destination you will see.' A-don't you get it, Yoshi? I think that riddle meant in order for us to a-figure out where we'll be headed to next, we need to fight among the forest mass..."

"...which happens to be _this_ area of the forest itself," Yoshi gasped in realization. "The one we need to fight is _right here_! And we're _stepping on him_! He's _beneath our feet_!"

"I don't know if I should feel happy that you two figured out something or weird that a bad guy is beneath our feet," Birdo commented quietly, for Yoshi's ears only.

"Trust me on this one, Birdo, after everything Luigi and I went through, _everything_ is weird."

Suddenly, the eye that had opened and closed earlier opened again, then the iris wheeled toward Yoshi.

Yoshi gulped.

After a beat of a second, another massive arm appeared, the soil-coated and tree-lined fingers of the hand closing in on the green dinosaur.

"Look out, Yoshi!" Birdo warned with a shout.

"Huh?" Yoshi turned around just in time to see the hands move toward him, ready to capture him; however, he managed to narrowly move out of the way just before the fingers could ensnare around him.

"That was close," Yoshi panted.

"Uh, Yoshi...?" Birdo called.

"Yeah...?"

"I have a feeling this guy has more than one pair of eyes," the pink dinosaur said in a shaky voice, looking at the multitude of "rocks" that opened to reveal they were actually eyes.

"Oh no," Yoshi mumbled, looking at the eyes that all centered on Birdo.

The same arm that had grabbed Yoshi earlier tried to take a swipe on Birdo as well; luckily, with just about the same luck, the pink dinosaur managed to take a narrow dodge on its assault just before it could have her.

"That was close," Birdo quoted the very same words Yoshi had panted under his breath just less than two minutes ago.

Yoshi studied each of the eyes that looked around (some of them were closed) and noticed something on an individual eye—it popped out of its socket, sprouted wings, and flew close to the green dinosaur.

Yoshi tensed, and, as soon as it was just inches near, he opened his mouth, and using his tongue, he took in the flying eyeball in his mouth.

_Yech_, Yoshi cringed internally. His mouth was screwed.

"Ew," Birdo muttered, shuddering.

Sparing no time, Yoshi laid an egg out of the eyeball he swallowed, and shot it at the arm that held Luigi captive.

The arm swayed at the blow, and then it loosened its grip on the green plumber.

"Luigi," Yoshi called, "can you be able to move now?"

Luigi squirmed a bit, and nodded. "Pretty much, yeah..."

Then he punched at the fingers of the hand that had him, allowing the hand to let him go...

...and as a result, he fell off.

"_Help!" _Luigi screamed, falling from fifty feet off the ground.

Alarmed, Yoshi ran toward the spot where Luigi was bound to land, and then, with his arms wide open, he caught the thin Mario brother mid-scream.

"Got you," Yoshi whispered to Luigi.

The green dinosaur carefully set Luigi down.

All three of them looked up at the giant arm that was twitching, then recovering from the blow afterwards.

"We have to stop that guy—not only might we be able to get a clue to rescue Mario and the others, we just might also be able to save Yoshi's Island," Yoshi said.

Luigi and Birdo were speechless. Then Luigi actually looked at Birdo directly for the first time in a long while, and said, with no meanness or cruelty, "Hey, Birdo, you think you'd be better off out of this mess?"

Birdo gave Luigi an even look, and said with no hesitation, "No, I'm in this—I'm _not going anywhere_."


	9. Green and Green is Pink

**CHAPTER NINE:**

**Green and Green is Pink**

"How are we a-gonna beat up this whole forest mass? Seriously, we need a game plan," Luigi said, all while dodging and punching the eyeballs that kept coming and going.

"I think I got a few things figured out about what we're facing," Yoshi said as he threw another egg at an approaching eyeball. "This guy sees everywhere—obviously since he's got lots of eyes scattered all over the place. Another one is that whenever an eyeball pops out of its socket"—he gestured to another eyeball that popped out of its socket, as if right on cue, and sprouted wings so it could fly close to Birdo, which, luckily, the pink dinosaur managed to poke with her fingers—"a new eye appears in its place, as if it were regenerating." And, as pointed out and described, a new eye appeared in place of the one that popped out and flew toward Birdo.

"Let's add the fact that if we stay still for too long, all the eyes will close in on us and the giant arm will take a swipe," Birdo said.

Luigi groaned. "Oh, just _great_—so we've got fifty-foot-tall arms up to swipe us if we keep still, and next multiple eyes that a-fly near us like annoying Parakoopas. I wonder how Mario handles going through World One to World Eight all while facing all sorts of weirdos? I get the feeling Nintendo doesn't pay him enough to rescue Peach."

"Heroes always get fame the hard way," Yoshi said.

Luigi laughed, and tensed himself. "That's a-why I'm here."

"We can't just keep moving forever and beating up eyes that will always come back—but if we _don't_ get moving, it won't take long till the eyes center on us and soon the arms will grab us."

"But I happen to notice something while I was up there fifty feet above—all the eyes within the area seem to be forming a shape..."

"And what shape was that?" Birdo asked.

"It sort of looked like...a key..."

"That doesn't make sense," Birdo said. "There are eyes _everywhere_. I doubt it can form the shape of a key—"

"Hold on, I didn't say it made sense. Before I noticed the pattern, I saw that there were eyes that weren't moving at all. They seemed to be a-holding themselves steady. And so I separated the eyes that were moving and chasing you two and the eyes that were a-still and...I saw a key pattern."

Yoshi's jaw dropped. "Wow, you saw all _that _while you were up there? And here I thought you were panicking..."

"Try several more years of being constantly captured by Bowser and eventually you'll get somewhere."

Yoshi laughed. "You don't say...?"

"Anyway," Luigi continued, "maybe the best way to defeat this guy is to strike the eyes that form the key shape. I'm just saying. Who knows—maybe those steady eyes don't grow back."

"And you're saying that the eyes that shape a key will help us defeat the monster?"

"It's a-not impossible."

"Now, how can we try to hit the eyes? Shall we stay here and study the eyes? We'll get grabbed." Birdo shook her head.

"Birdo's right. And it's pretty much hard to identify the eyes if we're down here. If we were up—"

"Let's a-get ourselves captured, then."

"Have you lost your mind, Luigi?" Yoshi gasped. "Or has that carbonara gone down the wrong way to your throat?"

"A-no way, pal—in fact, that carbonara had extra cheese in it, too—you said we have no chance being _just here, _so it's best if we _a-get ourselves grabbed and get the _spaghetti_ up there_!"

Birdo stared blankly at Luigi.

"That...is totally _nuts_ of you, Luigi," Yoshi said. "But it's probably nuts enough for it to work."

"Good—now let's make those eyes come at us! But we a-need to make sure the fingers don't get us—we a-have to _hold on_ to the hand and not the other way around."

"Got it, Luigi."

They all waited for the eyes to center on them and hopefully for the arm to grab them.

After a while, the trio were surrounded by stares.

Eventually, the same ground-shaking followed, tailed with the fingers rising from the ground.

"On my signal...," Luigi began. Yoshi and Birdo tensed themselves.

"One...," Birdo said.

"Two...," Yoshi said; the massive hand was moving closer toward the three.

"...THREE!" Luigi shouted as all three of them jumped simultaneously and held on to the soil-coated hand. The hand shook back and forth at first, likely trying to shake them off, then it rose back up.

"You a-see it now?" Luigi shouted over the wailing wind.

"I see it!" Yoshi and Birdo screeched at the same time, then Yoshi said alone, "It's _exactly_ like a key!"

"Good—hey, we've got some company!" Birdo pointed at the eyes below, the ones that were outside of the key pattern, and the ones that were popping out of their sockets and flying directly toward them!

"Duh-oh," Luigi groaned. "A-this ain't good."

"Prepare yourselves!" Yoshi shouted.

"I'll take care of that," Birdo said, shooting fire at it from her snout.

"A-take this!" Luigi said as he punched an approaching eye.

"And some more of _this_!" Birdo said, burning another eye.

"Hey, I got an idea," Yoshi chimed in the middle of Luigi and Birdo's battle scene.

"Yeah? And what's a-that?"

"I'm thinking that maybe we should use these flying eyes to hit at the key-eyes from above. It's practically impossible to hit the key-eyes _down there_ if we're _up here_."

"Oh, uh, yeah...," Luigi flustered, realizing that little flaw in his plan; he hadn't realized till now that Yoshi was right—though they could see the pattern eyes from above, there was no way to hit them when they were all down below.

"I can suck the approaching eyes in and blow them back out," Birdo said.

"And I can keep throwing eggs till I hit the target," Yoshi added.

"And I...," Luigi said, trailing off as he tried to figure out how could _he_ launch a missile attack on the key-eyes, then he continued, "well, I a-certainly can throw the flying eyes themselves back to the ground! A-that eez gonna pack a punch!"

"Great! Now we all know what we're gonna do," Yoshi said, all tensed up.

"A-let's go and kick some eyeball butt!"

As the eyes kept coming and going, Luigi, Yoshi and Birdo continued hitting at them, all at the same time while launching missile attacks at the key-pattern eyes (and all while being careful not to lose their balance and fall off the giant hand). They sucked in and blew them (in Birdo's part), ate them and used them as eggs (in Yoshi's part), and even luckily grabbed them mid-flight, tore off the wings—positively brutal—and threw them down to plummet to their doom (in Luigi's part).

The fight-slash-strike was difficult, but it was quickly rewarding—after a while, the trio discovered that _twenty-five_ of the twenty-eight key-pattern eyes were taken down and "destroyed"! And, as Luigi had suspected, they were not capable of regenerating.

The trio exchanged grins.

"This is it," Birdo giggled with glee.

"Only three more to go," Yoshi said excitedly.

"A-let's not waste any more time," Luigi suggested.

Using her snout, Birdo sucked in one more approaching fly-eye, and, with all her might, she blew it down so intense that the twenty-sixth key-eye broke off with the shattering noise that could even be heard from up there.

"Three...," Birdo muttered, counting down.

"My turn," Yoshi said, looking above at another approaching fly-eye, taking it in with his tongue, laying it out as an egg, and throwing it hard down, eventually leading the twenty-seventh key-eye to shatter and break with an equally-loud noise.

"Two...," Yoshi half-panted as he continued the countdown.

"Okay, it's up to a-me," Luigi announced, eager that his hunch had been right and that the battle was almost over. He grabbed an incoming eye mid-flight, tore off its wings so it wouldn't escape when he'd throw it, then prepared to deliver the final move that would end the Yoshi Island monstrosity.

Luigi sucked in a deep breath as he began to shout out, "Here we—"

Before he could even move his arm to throw the eye, millions of fly-eyes were unleashed, causing a mass outbreak like a swarm of wild birds that were trying to escape from the sound of a hunter's gun. Within seconds, the view was completely obscured, and neither Yoshi nor Birdo could even see their own hands in front of their faces.

But where was Luigi...?

"Help!" Luigi screamed as soon as the fly-eyes had flown upward and oddly exploded to bits.

"Luigi," Yoshi gasped as he saw his friend hanging by the thumb of the creature on one hand, his other hand keeping a firm grip on the wingless fly-eye.

"Hand on, Luigi, I'll—," Yoshi began to say, but stopped cold when another million fly-eyes flew up on a second swarm to explode. "Ugh, I—I can't see—!"

"I'll save you!"

Luigi started—because that certainly wasn't _Yoshi_ who cried out "I'll save you."

Luigi strained to see among the mass of eyes (part of his mind idled if the riddle had been wrong about "the forest mass" part) and eventually, he saw a pink hand emerge.

_Wait,_ Luigi thought, _what...Did I seriously see pink?_

The familiar pink snout Luigi'd scorned just this morning emerged as well, and it didn't take long for everything to make sense.

"Birdo?" Luigi asked.

"Yes, Luigi, it's me—hold on to my hand."

Luigi narrowed his eyes as he hesitated just a little, then, knowing that his life was in the line, he held firm to Birdo's hand as the pink dinosaur pulled him up.

"You...a-didn't leave me behind...," Luigi said. Behind him, the second fly-eye swarm was gone.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Birdo replied.

Luigi smiled hesitantly at the pink dinosaur, then glared at the remaining key-pattern eye which was a dot in the middle of the key's head.

"A-here goes...NOTHING!" Luigi shouted as he swung his arm like a baseball pitcher about to throw the ball, and threw his hardest at the twenty-eighth key-pattern eye down in the middle of the key pattern, which produced the loudest sound one could ever hear, louder the ones Birdo and Yoshi had destroyed—and simply because it was the last one.

"One," Luigi finished the countdown with a heavy panting.

Barely a second after the word came out of Luigi's mouth, the soil-coated hand the trio were standing on began to shake, as if it was going through some kind of earthquake, then it...

...crumbled to pieces like loose soil...?

Luigi, Yoshi and Birdo at the same time:

"Mamma Mia!"

"Uh-oh..."

"This ain't good..."

All three shouted at the top of their lungs as they plummeted down from fifty feet above. Birdo closed her eyes, anticipating a waking nightmare, Yoshi squeezed his eyes shut and muttered, "It can't be the end" repeatedly, and Luigi...covered his face with both hands and screamed, "Waaaaah!"

A second of pure, wheezing adrenaline rush—the very same one from the warp cannon Luigi and Yoshi had used earlier—went up, backed up by the sound of the wailing wind, then followed by the ruffling of the bushes.

"Oof," Yoshi panted, fumbling his fingers through the leaves of the bush, "anyone okay?"

"I am," Birdo said, struggling out of the bush.

"Hey," Luigi called, laughing nervously, "My luck seems to be changing for the better..." Then he slipped and fell off the bush, his back flat to the ground. "Ow."

"Is it really done?" Birdo asked quietly.

A smile slowly made its way across Yoshi's face. "It's really, really over, isn't it?"  
Luigi, still lying on the ground, looked around for any sign that the creature might still be there, then grinned. "Yes, it's really over, guys."


	10. Just Another Clue For the Day

**CHAPTER TEN:**

**Just Another Clue for the Day**

Luigi and Yoshi were still exulted, as with Birdo who was still acting all cheery from their victory.

Apparently, it didn't last long….

Something glimmered from the corner of Luigi's eye. It came from the exact same spot where the twenty-eighth key-pattern eye had been, the last eye, the eye that looked the worst among the rest of the key-eyes the trio had destroyed.

"A-what was that…?" Luigi asked, focusing his gaze on the glimmer he'd caught just now.

He stood up and went to the spot where the last key-eye was, and eventually he discovered where the glimmer had come from—it came from a gold band that held up a piece of rolled parchment.

"It's…a parchment of some sort?"

Yoshi and Birdo stood up from the bush they were lying down on and approached Luigi, who was removing the gold band and now unrolling the parchment.

"What's it say?" Birdo asked.

"Is it another clue?" Yoshi wondered.

Luigi looked at Yoshi as he answered him. "A-sort of…"

The green plumber studied what was written in the parchment, then he screwed his face like he was eating lemon off his pasta sauce. "It's even _more confusing_ than the last one." He showed the parchment to Yoshi and Birdo. "I HATE MATH!"

Yoshi read the parchment out loud. "The key divided by another one plus all three of you standing right now, before me, reading me; fluff and white to replace the green and each tree; the eighth World minus the one who is not green. Prepare to lift off to your next destination and stay real, this is where imagination keeps the deal."

Birdo cocked her head to the side. "It doesn't make sense."

"That's a-what I said about the last riddle," Luigi replied. "But I _am_ surprised that it's as if the riddle knows who's reading this."

"For instance, how did the riddle know it was the _three of us_?" Yoshi wondered.

"And that I'm _not_ green?" Birdo added.

"Maybe the parchment has hidden eyes," Luigi guessed.

"Anyway, this is more like a Math problem to me," Yoshi commented.

"_Exactly,"_ Luigi snapped. "That's why I hate Math. It a-makes everything confusing!"

"Well, we need to solve this—if we don't I don't think we'll ever get anywhere."

"How do we solve a riddle with Math? It would've been fun with _real_ numbers, but it a-lacks digits—it's full of this minus that instead of the traditional one-plus-one thing."

"We could at least start with the first one. Hmm…'The key divided by another one plus all three of you standing right now, before me, reading me….' "

"What does _that_ a-mean?!"

"The 'key' in the riddle—I don't suppose it refers to the twenty-eight key-pattern eyes we destroyed?"

"Hmm," Luigi murmured, stroking his mustache, "probably so—that's the only thing that ever happened to us the entire time that can match the heck of a key in the riddle."

"So the 'key' is the twenty-eight key-eyes—so that would sum up as twenty-eight divided by all three of us…?"

"If I recall, I lost count of how many eyes we destroyed. How many did each of us go after?"

"Maybe that's not exactly what it means. The riddle didn't _exactly_ ask how many eyes did each of us destroy."

Birdo cleared her throat. "Does it have any equivalence to 'the eighth World minus the one who is not green'?"

"One question at a time, Birdo," Luigi said as wiped sweat off his forehead. "Just that one part already didn't make sense at all."

Birdo shrugged. "Maybe you could know about it, Luigi—you traveled from World One to World Eight before."

"_Super Mario Bros._ still doesn't make it enough to fit in a riddle." Luigi took his hat off, then frowned. "Or…does it?"

"When he has _that_ face, he's got his sleuth on," Yoshi whispered to Birdo.

"Did he have that face when he solved the first riddle?" Birdo asked.

"Pretty much—he solved it single-handedly, too."

Birdo stared after Luigi, mystified.

"The key refers to the twenty-eight eyes that a-formed it, since there isn't any other explanation for the whole thing…divided by all three of us right here….Then there's the whole 'the eighth World minus the one who is not green,' what does that all fit into…?" Luigi speculated.

Both dinosaurs kept their eyes on the green plumber, all while being careful not to intrude upon his "sleuthing moments."

"Aha!" the thin Mario Brother boomed. Both Yoshi and Birdo jumped at his sudden outburst.

"A-can't you zee? A-maybe 'the key divided by another one plus all three of you' can easily translate to 'twenty-eight divided by three of us!"

"Twenty-eight divided by three?" Yoshi cocked his head to the side. "That won't give us a pretty good answer…."

"But a-wait," Luigi said, "there's more—it did say _another one_ plus all three of us, right?"

"Yeah…?"

"Think about it, Yoshi, it won't make sense if it's 'all three of us,' but if you add one—"

"—it becomes four—"

"—and if you were to make it 'twenty-eight divided by four'—"

"—it'll result to seven!" Yoshi finished, then he went back to a confused expression. "But what does that number have to do with all this?"

"Oh, this is where it'll all a-make sense, pal—'the eighth World _minus_ the _one_ who is not green…?"

"Did the riddle mean 'World Seven'?" Yoshi gasped.

"Pretty much," Luigi said with joy. "And it did say 'fluff and white to replace the green.' And World Seven is a-just _loaded_ with clouds!"

"So where off to World Seven, then!"

"Exactly!"

* * *

Luigi, Yoshi and Birdo were now at Yoshi Village, preparing for their next destination (and for their goodbyes).

"It was fun battling with you," Yoshi said, hugging Birdo.

Birdo clutched her arms around Yoshi, then let go, still keeping a steady gaze on her friend. "Of course it was—it was practically the most fun I had since racing with you for the _Mario Kart_ Grand Prix."

Yoshi chuckled.

Then it was Luigi and Birdo's turn for their goodbye moment. The two faced each other; emotionless at first, then they eventually exchanged smiles.

"So, Birdo," Luigi began, "you still dating Popple?"

Birdo rolled her eyes. "Don't kid yourself, Luigi—I swear when you hit the game credits, I dumped him off; he was such a jerk!"

"By the way, I meant to ask you…"

"Yes…?"

"How did you know what happened back there at the Mushroom Kingdom? It's a-not like you were actually _there_—who informed you about the whole thing when the only people who witnessed it was _us_—me and Yoshi?"

"Oh, _that_…," Birdo giggled. "W-ell, I just have this to tell you, Luigi—I'm pretty much connected, and you know that."

Luigi started.

"Anyway," Birdo said, offering her hand. Luigi took it and gave a good handshake. "I'd really love to tag along with you, but, well, I have a part to attend to with my Birdo sisters—there off to find the men of their dreams and I want to take a part of _that_."

"Oh, Birdo…," Luigi sighed, smiling; the way he said it sounded like 'Birdos will be Birdos.'

"Hope we'll see each other again," Yoshi said.

"A-no hard feelings this time, Birdo," Luigi said. "Thanks for proving yourself to be there until the end."

"Don't mention it," Birdo said.

"And that leads us to our next destination: World Seven!" Yoshi announced.

"A-right! Off to World Seven! Let's a-go!" Luigi shouted.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Hurray for _ten chapters_! In acknowledgement to the tenth chapter of "Luigi Gets His Hero On," I made a concept art based on the battle scene on Yoshi's Island (Chapter 8 to Chapter 9), featuring _Luigi_ and _Yoshi_! (I was seriously considering on adding **Birdo**, but it was _just too hard_! _Birdo_, Y U SO HARD TO DRAW?! XD)

To see the concept art, go to my profile page since stories aren't allowed to have links. -_-

_To all the faithful followers of "Luigi Gets His Hero On…"_

**There's **_**another**_** concept art coming once the story reaches ****15 chapters****!**

~Stay tuned! ^^


	11. Dream Clouds

**CHAPTER ELEVEN:**

**Dream Clouds**

Luigi and Yoshi finally arrived on their second destination: World Seven.

"Okay, okay," Luigi'd said reluctantly, "that warp cannon wasn't so bad." He'd said that just seconds after they began to incline downward from being shot out of the World Seven warp cannon, and minutes before landing on a mound of soft cloud fluff.

Yoshi landed on his back to the clouds. "I guess we're just lucky we got ourselves a place to make a soft landing, huh?"

"You _know_ we got lucky on this one."

Yoshi stood up and looked around. True to the riddle's words, they were now surrounded with clouds; all the green from the Yoshi's Island forest were now replaced with the 'white and fluff' of World Seven.

"A-looks like we're on the right track being here, Yoshi," Luigi said.

Yoshi smiled and shook his head. "The fact that you had sleuthing skills that was surely unheard of has been a huge eye-opener for me."

"A-well, then, congratulations for bearing second witness to it."

" 'Second witness'?" Yoshi quoted, confused. "Who was the first?"

Luigi grimaced, then he looked away at the mounds of cumulus clouds that were farther away. "It was...Mario."

"Oh," Yoshi mumbled, understanding Luigi's sudden change of tone and expression when he mentioned his brother. He changed the subject. "Uh, anyway...did you make sense of everything in that riddle?"

Luigi frowned. "No. The last one didn't sink in on me. Ya know, the one that said, 'Prepare to lift off to your next destination and stay real, this is where imagination keeps the deal.' "

"I don't suppose it has to be another monster we're gonna fight?"

"Your guess might just be as good as mine."

Suddenly, a low rumbling somewhere around the farther clouds interrupted whatever Yoshi was about to say. Both of them looked at the clouds where the rumbling had come from, and realized that they now took on a grayish hue.

"Storm clouds?" Luigi guessed.

"Looks like a case of bad weather to me," Yoshi said in response. "Let's go check it out."

"I think it's a-best to just stay here and away from the creepy-looking storm clouds," Luigi said in a slightly shaky voice, his entire frame shivering a bit despite the fact that it wasn't really cold where they were.

"Come on, Luigi, we just need to check it out. And it was only a low rumbling—nothing to be afraid of."

"I know—_you_ go check it out, then come back here and a-give me a status report, while _I_ stay here and patiently wait for your quick return."

Yoshi sighed. "Are you seriously scared of a bit of rain rumble?"

"A-no, I'm not," Luigi snapped, a bit embarrassed to feel his teeth still chattering. "I'm j-just worrying—if you a-make me catch a cold, you'll know who I'll blame!"

The green dinosaur rolled his eyes. "In case you don't know this, Luigi, we're _above_ the clouds—so if there is a storm coming up, it'll be _below_ us, pal."

"You say," Luigi scoffed.

"Luigi…," Yoshi began.

Luigi groaned—apparently he didn't like the look on Yoshi's face right now. "Yeesh, okay, okay…."

Luigi grudgingly (and very sluggishly) moved his feet to put himself in motion. It only made him move about one step for every two minutes, so Yoshi facepalmed himself and eventually got Luigi moving by walking behind him and shoving against his stubborn state.

"You know, Luigi—for someone _so_ thin, you can sure be _so hard to move_," Yoshi commented under his breath.

Luigi bit his cheeks to hide a smirk. "It a-pays to have stubbornness."

"That's not stopping me from giving up from moving you and going ahead."

Luigi frowned. "Have you always been so…_determined_?"

"Try taking babies off for strolls around the island and eventually you'll get something there."

Luigi turned his head a bit to Yoshi's direction to give him a disbelieving look.

Another rumbling sound came from the graying clouds, this time a lot louder than before.

"A-yeeh!"

"Luigi, it's only a bit of thunder—nothing to squeal about..."

"I was _not_ squealing!"

Before Yoshi could comment more, they were shocked to see a flash of light somewhere among the graying clouds.

And then...

_Zap!_


	12. Heroic Wonderland

**CHAPTER TWELVE:**

**Heroic Wonderland**

Luigi groaned a few times, then he tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't have them move—his body was sluggish to respond.

"Wh-Where am I…?" he mumbled.

There was a light yet tomboyish voice calling on to him.

"Hey, Luigi…"

Luigi started; the voice sounded somehow familiar. "Who are you?" He strained his eyes to see a lady-like figure among the fluff of the clouds.

The figure made a giggling sound.

Luigi scratched the back of his head and made a disgruntled face. The giggle only leaned _even closer_ to the person in Luigi's assumptions.

He cleared his throat and blinked hard before he said her name.

"Princess Daisy, is that you?"

The figure moved then; it moved closer until it emerged fully out of the clouds and confirmed Luigi's guess.

"Yes, Luigi," Princess Daisy answered, giving him more confirmation than he needed at the moment of the daze. "It's me, Daisy."

Luigi felt like his head whirled. "A-what are _you_ doing here, Daisy?"

Princess Daisy laughed. "What's wrong, green guy? What's wrong with _me_ being _here_? It's, what? Too 'dangerous' for me?"

"Uh…no, I…didn't mean _that_, Daisy…."

"So what's wrong, then?"

"It's just—just…a-weird to see _you_ here. Because, well…Hey, where's Yoshi?"

"That's one too many questions, Luigi—I'm sure Yoshi is fine where he is right now. So, why don't we head to the Mushroom Kingdom Castle? Princess Peach promised a cake just for you. You've done such a good job giving all the effort for rescuing Mario—and now you deserve a truckload of thanks for all that. Now, come—everyone's waiting for _their_ hero."

Luigi swallowed convulsively upon the thought of his brother under Bowser's clutches and choked out, "A-but—but Mario—"

"Mario has finally broken free, Luigi."

"H-how was he able to break free? Bowser really got him good—he couldn't escape…."

"Luigi, let's get to the Mushroom Kingdom," Princess Daisy insisted.

Luigi was confused, yet he did little nothing but flounder and did as she said.

Luigi looked around, and was shocked to see that all the white and fluff from World Seven was gone, and replaced with the familiar surroundings of the Mushroom Kingdom. Not far off, there was the Mushroom Kingdom Castle.

"Im…possible…?" he choked.

Princess Daisy shoved him gently on the back. "Hey, don't just _stand_ there—Princess Peach, Mario and all the others are waiting—Yoshi, too."

Luigi's eyes widened. "Yoshi?!"

"Yeah, he's waiting among the many others there in the Castle."

"Um…okay, let's a-go."

Luigi didn't say any more along the way as he walked with Princess Daisy to the Mushroom Kingdom Castle. Though, at times, his mind would dwell upon Yoshi, and it would make him all the more eager to get to the Castle faster. After all, Yoshi had been with him; surely _Yoshi_ would understand the absurdity of the situation going on right now.

The two arrived in front of the Castle. Then, strangely as if the people inside could sense their arrival, the doors opened, allowing them to enter.

"Welcome back and thanks for saving us, Luigi!"

It was hard for Luigi to confirm that he was really in the Castle, since he was practically surrounded by Toads. He could hardly move around where he was standing right now. He had a feeling Daisy couldn't, too—

Hold on, where _was_ Daisy, anyway?!

"Daisy?" He looked around for Princess Daisy, only to see a multitude of Toads surrounding him.

"Everyone, please let Luigi through," Princess Peach said from behind the Toads in front of him.

In immediate response to her words, the Toads moved to the sides to give way to the green plumber. Luigi walked forward right away—all while feeling strangely kingly—then saw his brother, Princess Daisy, Princess Peach, Toadsworth and—he gasped—Yoshi waiting for him in the end of the Toad horde.

"Thanks for saving us, Luigi," Princess Peach said.

"It was very brave of you to battle your way to save us, Luigi," Mario said, walking forward to give Luigi a pat on the back.

"I was shocked to hear the news about everyone in Peach Castle being abducted by Bowser and his minions, but it was a good thing you and Yoshi managed to get them good and save us all! Most especially _you_, Luigi! You're our hero!" Princess Daisy giggled.

Luigi blushed. The whole "Luigi is our hero" thing still hasn't sunk itself in on Luigi yet.

"We did a good job," Yoshi said. "Everyone's safe, and it's all thanks to you."

Luigi shook his head a bit. "You were there, too."

"True—but if it weren't for your sleuthing skills, we would never have known where to start."

"Gosh, it was only a few good guesses and suggestions."

"Oh, don't be so darn humble, Luigi. For once, stop fussing and enjoy being the hero. That's what you've always wanted, right?"

"Uh…" Luigi blushed from the memory. "A-yeah…?"

"Then let's celebrate! Seriously, Luigi," Yoshi laughed, "everyone's safe, and Bowser and his minions are goners! Just listen!"

All Luigi could practically hear was the never-ending chorus of "Luigi is our hero."

The thinner Mario Brother kept silent for a while, then said, "Okay, let's go eat that cake!"

Mario, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy and Yoshi all laughed. Even Toadsworth.

"Well, come one, everyone," Princess Peach announced. "Let's go eat the cake in celebration of our hero!"

Luigi followed Princess Peach, as with all the others. But despite his excitement, he had the strangest feeling that there was something really wrong with everything going on around the place.

It was then that he noticed something odd on Yoshi's back.

"Hey, Yoshi," Luigi asked hesitantly, afraid that the green dinosaur might be offended. "A-what's with the hump on your back? It a-should be _red_, right? But…why eez it _black_?"

Yoshi shrugged. "Do you always notice even the most unimportant things?"

Luigi jumped, embarrassed that he'd even asked that question, then mumbled, "Um, sorry. Silly me…."

* * *

The Hero's Welcome Party was fun and, for Luigi, everything he'd ever dreamed. Everyone couldn't (and wouldn't) stop raving about him, and there were times when he felt like he could get tired from answering the endless rounds of questions from eager Toads, but he just decided that he might as well get used to it. After all, Mario dealt with things like that.

Soon after a while, Princess Peach looked at the clock hanging on the wall and announced, "Everyone, it's time to give Luigi the Hero's Sandwich!"

Everyone made cheering noises of agreement as a handful of Toads moved out of the table to head to the kitchen to retrieve the Hero's Sandwich. It only took them two minutes; they came back with a sandwich that seemed twice the length of Yoshi's tongue.

As soon as the sandwich was set in front of Luigi, everyone looked at him expectantly.

"Bite, Luigi, bite!" a Toad urged. Everyone else made the same urging tone.

"Ah, okay," Luigi said, lifting the sandwich from the plate as he began to open his mouth to take the first bite. From the corner of his eye, he still saw the black hump on Yoshi's back—still feeling confused that it should've been red; as was the color of most Yoshis' humps—then decided that it shouldn't really matter.

Luigi was about to take the bite on his Hero's Sandwich, when…

"_Hold it, Luigi!_ Don't take a bite on _that sandwich_!"


	13. Where Fantasies Fall

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN:**

**Where Fantasies Fall**

Luigi stopped cold at the voice—it was Yoshi's voice, and it sounded like it came somewhere behind the multitude of expectant Toads. But that wasn't really what made Luigi stop.

Because how could he have heard Yoshi's voice _behind the Toads_ when he was just _directly to his left_?!

Luigi strained to follow where he'd heard the voice, and found Yoshi behind the Toads.

"I—I—" Luigi's head spun, confused; bewildered. "A-why are there _two_ Yoshis?!"

He looked at the Yoshi who was directly to his left, who looked just as shocked as he was, and he had the _black_ hump on his back that the green plumber continued to question to himself.

Then he looked at the Yoshi behind the Toads, who looked more afraid more than shocked, and who looked like he'd had a few battles from who knows where. He checked the hump on his back, and saw that it was _red_—the color _all_ Yoshi humps were.

"_Don't eat that sandwich_, you hear me?!" the red-humped Yoshi shouted in a warning. "It's a trap—_all of it is a trap_! _None of this is real!_"

Luigi was surprise that everyone—the Toads, the black-humped Yoshi beside him, Princess Daisy, Princess Peach, Toadsworth (which was an odd thing to witness), and even his brother Mario—laughing at the scared Yoshi's words. It was as if what he was saying was a huge joke.

"Seriously, Luigi," Princess Daisy laughed, "can you actually _believe_ this guy's words?!"

"Exactly," Princess Peach chimed in with a few giggles in between, "imagine this guy—breaking in just _seconds_ before our hero takes his first bite, then shouts that this whole thing is a trap? That's just gold!"

"The hilarity of it all," Toadsworth said in a chuckle. (Luigi shook his head in disbelief, still not used to what he just saw and heard from Princess Peach's ward.)

"A-just what we needed, though," Mario guffawed, "a good laugh!"

Luigi blinked in surprise.

"Don't listen to any of them, Luigi," the red-humped Yoshi warned, still determined despite the continuous jeering from the audience. "This is just a—"

"Okay, okay, laugh time's over," Princess Peach interjected, her face and tone serious now as she glared at the red-humped Yoshi. "If you have nothing better to do than get in the way of Luigi's Hero's Welcome Party, then I'm afraid I'll have to get rid of you _at once_."

Luigi blanched at the ferocity of Princess Peach's words.

The red-humped Yoshi still stared back at Princess Peach, unafraid. "There's nothing intruding about saving my friend from all the lies going on around here!"

Luigi gaped, shocked that his dinosaur friend would actually have the guts to talk to Princess Peach in an ice-cold tone.

"Such disrespect in front of the princess!" Toadsworth gasped in disbelief.

"The nerve of it all!" Princess Daisy scoffed.

"Really, Luigi," Mario said to the green plumber, "do you really ought to believe the words from a faker who just disrespected Princess Peach?"

"I—," was all Luigi could say.

"Exactly," Mario concluded, "you know the real Yoshi would never have done _that_."

Luigi shook his head, but it did nothing at all to even make the confusion go away a bit. "Lies? I'm so confused..."

"Seriously, Lil' Bro, a-don't you think that faker of a Yoshi should get out before he ruins this great party just for you and all your mighty-mightiness?"

Luigi started. "A-hold _on_." He turned to glare at the red plumber. "What the...? 'Lil' Bro'? 'Your mighty-mightiness'?" he quoted sourly. "The _real_ Mario would _never_ say words like those!"

"Yes, Mario can, and he's older than you, Luigi. He's very much capable of saying what he wants," the black-humped Yoshi said in an off-handed tone. "It hasn't occurred to you, has it? I'm not surprised with your heckuva train of thought right now, slick."

Luigi narrowed his eyes at the green and black-humped dinosaur. "The _real_ Yoshi would _never_ have the words 'heckuva' or 'slick' in his dictionary."

The black-humped Yoshi's eyes turned blank as Luigi's words registered in him. His mouth screwed to the side like he was sucking lemon—or like he'd just been disarmed and caught on the act.

But _what_ act?

The red-humped Yoshi smiled and, under his breath, muttered the words, "Gotcha. Way to go, Luigi."

The black-humped Yoshi looked at Luigi coldly. "So it comes this, pal. You would believe someone who ruined your special day."

Luigi glanced at the red-humped Yoshi and back to the black-humped one, with a fiery look. "He may have a-ruined everything, but he didn't a-ruin it for himself, but for _me_. _That's_ the Yoshi _I know_." He stood up and glared at everyone, even Princess Peach, Toadsworth, Princess Daisy (that was the hardest for him to do), the black-humped Yoshi, and (even harder to do) Mario. "I suspected just as much when I saw the black hump from Yoshi's back—a-that could've been enough to give him away. But it didn't. Because I was so full of the whole 'hero' thing, so blinded by what I saw—what I wanted—that I a-failed to see that tiny thing that made the while scene before me wrong. All of _this_!" He pointed at the walls of the Castle's dining room. He gestured to everyone; save for the red-humped Yoshi whom he felt now was the real deal. "This whole thing is a lie! Now I get a-what the riddle meant! 'Stay real, this is where imagination keeps the deal!' I got what I wanted—what I wished for—but it was _all a lie_!"

Everyone gasped—Princess Peach, Toadsworth, Princess Daisy and Mario all looked at him like the green plumber had lost every bit of his mind.

The black-humped Yoshi didn't gasp; instead, he clapped his hands slowly and sneered—more proof that he wasn't the real Yoshi. "Excellent, you little green fool. And here I thought I had you good. And I was just _so_ close, too. One bite on that sandwich could've been enough to put you out for good. But I'm afraid it all ends _here_. I'm not going to allow you to put a stop to King Bowser's plans any longer."

The black-humped Yoshi lifted his hands, and a surge of electricity flowed around them, even going around his arms. Then, everything and everyone faded, like clouds around a swirl, and suddenly Luigi and the red-humped Yoshi—the real Yoshi, the only other one who hasn't faded away with the others—were surrounded with the familiar white and fluff of World Seven, only they weren't so white anymore; the color was more like those of storm clouds.

The swirl of graying storm clouds surrounded the black-humped Yoshi—the fake one now—and, after a while, the graying swirl disappeared, and there was no longer a black-humped Yoshi in front of the green duo; someone else replaced the fake Yoshi.

He was black-humped, but not green and Yoshi-shaped—he was more of a Koopa since the black hump was now like his shell; he was yellow, and had black glasses. He rode on top of a storm cloud, and his hands surged with electricity...or was lightning the better word?

Luigi and Yoshi gasped in unison.

"Lakithunder?!"

"You two are finished, chumps. This'll be the last place you'll be," he sneered.


	14. Lightning & Spikes

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN:**

**Lightning & Spikes**

Not wasting any time, Lakithunder zapped a mean string of lightning at the two, in which they jumped out of the way to avoid.

"But, how—when—why—?" Luigi seemed at loss for words, shocked at how something so nice would end up so wrong the moment he'd attempt to bite the Hero's Sandwich.

"What are you saying?" Yoshi asked, his words just as rushed as his attempt to run as far from Lakithunder as possible.

"How did _you_ show up in my fantasy?!"

"It's a bit of a long story—when we got zapped, we both fell unconscious. I woke up in Toad Town, or...I _thought_ it was. The whole thing seemed real—"

"I know," Luigi sighed, then ducked out of the way just seconds before the second round of lightning hit him.

"—the Toads there were very...nice. We were all having a good time, but there was something wrong in their faces. Like, something stirring underneath. I even asked one Toad about it once, but he just avoided the question."

"Kinda like that fake Yoshi."

"So then it was time to eat. The food was cake just laden with fruits all over—all of my favorites. I asked the Toad Town head where he got all those fruits and he said he got them from the local market. And that was where I realized something wrong with the whole thing—how could he have bought those fruits if they weren't in season?! The Toad Town market _never_ sells fruits that aren't in season!"

"I see. And that was the part where you snapped out of it."

"Yeah, you're getting to it, pal. I told the Toad Town head, but he avoided that and insisted I eat the cake. And when I refused—"

"That was where everything fell apart?"

"Yes! Everyone suddenly transformed into a bunch of Spinies! I practically ran for my life, and I had a feeling you were into your own fantasy as well."

"Tell me about it."

"When I arrived at the Mushroom Kingdom Castle, the Toads there wouldn't let me in—they even called me a 'fake' and that I shouldn't intervene with their hero's party. I knew that _they_ knew that I knew the whole thing was just a bogus fantasy, and that was likely why they didn't want me in."

"So that you a-wouldn't get in the way of my eating that Hero's Sandwich and ...well, being a-finished once and for all."

"Oh, you're fast, Luigi. I figured the whole thing was false so it wouldn't matter who got hurt and"—Yoshi paused, then continued, somehow embarrassed on his next words—"I...um, I took in those Toads and turned them into eggs for the time being. Then I had to squirm into everyone else there and shout at the top of my lungs to stop you before I was too late."

Luigi laughed in surprise. "Wow, pal, I never expected you to do a-something like _that_! That's a first for you!"

"Uh, yeah...Look, I know why you're so bewildered right now, Luigi, but let's just focus on"—Yoshi narrowly attempted to dodge another lightning bolt directed at him—"finding a way to defeat this electro-maniac!"

"Can we just hide first?" Luigi suggested.

"Hide?! How can we even hide in a place like this?!" Yoshi gestured to the clouds everywhere.

"As long as we a-know there still will be a-more of the clouds beneath, we have to hide under them. Otherwise, expect to be a-fried!"

"Well"—Yoshi wanted to say more, but he saw Lakithunder's hand sparking with another round of lightning, then—"what are we waiting for?! Let's go!"

Running away, Luigi and Yoshi jumped into the thickest and closest cloud they could find, hoping they might be able to hide long enough to hatch a master plan.

"How can we stop Lakithunder?" Yoshi whispered. "As long as he sees us, he'll be zapping everywhere—we can barely even dodge something as fast as lightning. Add to that the fact that he flies, too!"

"There's got to be a-something a can do," Luigi whispered back. "Maybe a way to distract him, at the very least..."

"There's no way we can jump high enough top even get a grip of him. And even if we _can_, he'll zap us the moment he sees any one of us jumping onto him—and it's also a huge risk since...well, how can we be _so_ sure that we won't fall off the sky where we land?"

Luigi cussed. "Ugh, if only there could really be a way to win here. But this a-feels like what people call a lose-lose situation!"

The two were so busy trying to think of a plan that it almost made them scream (which would've given them away) when they heard Lakithunder's voice.

"Seriously, asses," Lakithunder said, "even if I can't find you, well then, it'll only be a matter of time before _you come out_!"

Luigi and Yoshi looked at each other, uncomfortable with the silence that followed.

Suddenly, something pricked at Luigi's behind. He bit his lower lip hard to keep from screaming. He looked behind him.

A Spiny was there, its spikes pricking at the green plumber's butt.

"Lakithunder's throwing Spiny eggs everywhere!" Yoshi gasped. He took ahold of the egg (while being careful not to touch the spikes—which was really, really hard) and pried the object out from Luigi's butt.

"That seriously _hurt_," Luigi complained, gritting his teeth from the pain.

But then Luigi's eyes widened when he saw more of the Spiny eggs thrown at the clouds!

"A-what do we do now?" Luigi hissed at the ever-increasing Spiny eggs among the clouds.

"There has to be a way to even divert him just enough for us to take a swing at him..."

Luigi looked back at the Spiny eggs (who landed and the clouds and emerged as Spinies) then above him to notice another string of Lakithunder's lightning; eventually, he thought of something.

"The Spinies," Luigi said with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I also know that the Spiny eggs Lakithunder throws are now hatching up as Spinies, that's pretty much obvious for every Lakitu on a _Super Mario_ level." Yoshi rolled his eyes.

"No, that's a-not what I meant, Yoshi," Luigi said. "We can use these Spinies to our advantage!"

"Seriously?" Yoshi wondered. "And how...?"

"Almost the same way we defeated that key-eye creature back at Yoshi's Island. The difference is these Spinies"—he kicked at a nearby Spiny, tossed it over and ran his finger across its spike—"will be our lightning rods."

"Oh, I get it. Whenever he tries to shoot lightning at us, we just might us these Spinies' spikes to deflect it and then...we'll...throw them at him? Like we're giving him..."

"...a taste of his own lightning," Luigi concluded, suddenly pleased at how bad-ass his plan sounded.

"Nice plan, Luigi," Yoshi said. "At least we won't have to hide here forever."

"A-certainly beats getting zapped and spiked around," Luigi agreed.

"Let's do this."

And the two emerged out of the cloud they were hiding, much to the smugness of Lakithunder.

"I knew you two morons wouldn't be hiding there for long," he said, smugness thick in his voice.

"Yeah, we wouldn't," Yoshi said with a grin.

"And that's 'cause we're a-gonna kick your butt good!" Luigi added with a sneer.

"Bring it, slicks," Lakithunder taunted.


	15. The End of the Storm

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN:**

**The End of the Storm**

Luigi and Yoshi tensed themselves, sure that Lakithunder would conjure another string of lightning any moment now.

"Give it your best shot," Luigi seethed.

In response to Luigi's words, Lakithunder directed a more lethal string of lightning toward the thin Mario Brother, which, somehow more agilely than from his previous quests, Luigi managed to dodge. He practically back-flipped out of the way.

"I can a-dodge with class," Luigi bragged.

Yoshi widened his eyes. "Whoa, who knew Luigi had the skills?" he whispered under his breath.

"Who's talking to _you_?" Lakithunder roared at Yoshi; it was easy to tell that the grumpiness in his voice was from the fact that Luigi managed to dodge his "best shot."

"That's easy to answer—_you_ are," Yoshi said with a taunting voice, thinking that somehow pricking at Lakithunder would make him lose his cool and care about nothing but hitting.

Lakithunder gave out an angry roar. His hands surged with twice as much electricity from his so-called "best shot."

"He's a-losing it," Luigi muttered to Yoshi with obvious glee.

Lakithunder shot the string of lightning toward the green dinosaur. _"I'm gonna make you dinosaur fry, you numbskull!"_

Yoshi was able to dodge, albeit only barely, and he did something next that Lakithunder wasn't expecting—he grabbed an unsuspecting Spiny egg and used its spikes like a lightning rod to absorb it, and shot it toward Lakithunder!

"What the—? Hey!" Lakithunder raised his storm cloud and barely dodged the lightning-surged Spiny egg thrown at him, with less class than Luigi and Yoshi ever had.

Luigi saw that, despite being able to discharge lightning, Lakithunder wasn't as quick at recovering from dodges and blows, and he immediately took advantage of it.

"Hey, Lakithunder," Luigi called toward the slightly sagging flying Koopa. He picked up a nearby Spiny egg—and immediately dropped it with a cry because he took a wrong grip and ended up getting pricked by the spikes, then got it again—and aimed at Lakithunder's face.

"Score that old pasta," Luigi said with a snicker as he saw the pained and flustered look at Lakithunder's face.

"Argh—that's it," Lakithunder growled, clearly losing his cool. "That's how you'll play the game, huh? Well, let's see just how long you two dopes will keep it up." And with that, he raised both his hands (both of which surged with mean lightning) and, much to Luigi and Yoshi's surprise, he shot them just about everywhere around the entire World Seven.

"Dafuq?!" Luigi cussed. Yoshi looked at him with wide eyes.

"You _sure_ can swear, pal," the green dinosaur said.

"A-what was he doing _that_ for?"

"I have no idea—" Yoshi's reply was cut short the moment he noticed what was happening; Lakithunder was spreading the lightning throughout and among the clouds so that eventually they would build up the entire time the traveled among the clouds, charge up, and, much worse, speed up so just even a hit from the lighting would be like winning a ticket to the fiery pits of World Eight.

"I hope you brought out some food for your picnic, sickos!" Lakithunder practically howled with laughter. "'Cause there'll be something roasting around here!"

"Oh no, this is a-bad," Luigi gulped. "We a-may deflect the lightning with Spinies, but I doubt we can predict just when and where will the lightning rise up and a-strike at us!"

Luigi and Yoshi turned and retreated a few paces until their backs touched each other. They both had a hand clutched onto a Spiny egg.

"Eyes open, pal," Luigi said.

"That won't be a problem," Yoshi said as nodded.

They tensed their eyes on the clouds, fully aware that, though they saw nothing, lightning was traveling within them, through them, building up, speeding up, and eventually finding a good—or bad—time to strike.

That was when Luigi realized something. Whenever there would be a storm, then...

He closed his eyes and gave his full attention to his sense of hearing. Other than the breathing, his and Yoshi's, there was another sound underlying among and within the clouds. He counted the beats that followed after the sound, and before the next one.

The sound was closing in, getting closer, so much so that Luigi could've sworn he had a hunch as to where the sound would come next.

Luigi started in a panicked state and quickly forced his words to fly out of his mouth.

"Yoshi, jump out of the way, quick!"

Jolted slightly with the sudden hastiness of Luigi's words, Yoshi sprang into action, but he was a second too late. Where Yoshi had been standing, the lightning appeared from beneath the _exact_ same spot he was standing, and the very edges of it slashed across the green dinosaur's arm. In automatic, silent response, he dropped the Spiny egg he was clutching so tightly on, which somehow rolled until it fell off from the sky like it came from the heavens.

"Yoshi!" Luigi screamed.

Yoshi couldn't respond, he was momentarily paralyzed from the static incident. He curled, but the movements were stiff; his mouth was open, but no words came out.

Lakithunder laughed maliciously, like the kind of laugh that came with witches and ruthless psychopaths. "Dino," he sneered, "you _sure_ don't look so good!"

"A-that's _it_!" Luigi roared. "You'll a-pay for _that_!"

"Really, huh?" Lakithunder seemed pleased with the exasperation in Luigi's face. "Your dino sidekick did you a favor when he snapped you out of that filthy illusion, but now it looks like he ain't so lucky this time around." He raised an eyebrow at the thin Mario Brother, who was clearly fuming right now.

Luigi said nothing in response, his hand was still clutching onto the Spiny egg he held.

"Well, I guess it's time for you to go back to your fantasy land...permanently!" Lakithunder's hand surged with electricity and he pointed a charged finger directly at Luigi, ready to release.

Luigi just stood unmoving, his mouth a straight set and the hand that was holding the Spiny egg didn't raise nor did it move in response to Lakithunder's actions.

"Nothing?!" Lakithunder howled with startled and amazed laughter. "Absolutely _nothing_—you're _just standing_ there?! You've really given up, huh, pal?"

Luigi didn't respond in any way.

"Fine, then—I bet you were wishing you'd gone back to your happy place, huh? With all your friends, Mr. Hero Wannabe? I can see that, you know. Don't worry," he snickered, "allow me to give you a one-way ticket back there!"

As if to give emphasis to his words, all the electricity from his hands focused their way to the finger that was pointing at Luigi, and all of it was released and rocketing straight at him.

Lakithunder could only guffaw when he saw the lightning strike the spot Luigi stood. The green plumber would've been no more.

But, as the smoke began to clear, he wasn't.

"You saw _wrong_!"

Lakithunder stopped his laughing fit cold when he heard the voice that made him want to retch—unharmed, smug and pleased.

"The hell—!" Lakithunder snarled.

The smoke had cleared enough for him to see that Luigi wasn't the recipient of the lightning, but the Spiny egg that he'd been holding so tightly on to. The Spiny egg absorbed the lightning on all sides, on all spikes.

"But—how—what?!"

"This is for Yoshi," Luigi said inaudibly, taking advantage of Lakithunder's bewildered state. He jumped and, with every effort his muscles could give, he gave the charged Spiny egg a massive kick—thanking his _Mario Strikers_ appearances for the soccer practice—and the lightning-charged Spiny egg ricocheted straight onto Lakithunder's face, knocking him off his storm cloud.

"Ugh," he groaned, unable to get up easily since he was lying down with his shell to the cloudy floor.

"Hey, Lakithunder," Luigi called.

"What the heckuva do _you_ want?!"

"Hope you brought some food for your picnic," Luigi quoted Lakithunder's words a while ago.

"What are you talking about...?" Before Lakithunder could even think much on Luigi's words, a massive force of lightning shot straight at him from below, very much like what happened to Yoshi; the only difference was while Yoshi barely dodged, Lakithunder wasn't able to dodge at all. He screamed as the lightning struck him, hundreds of times harder, hundreds of times more powerful, but the scream could do nothing. In fact, there was just so much of that lightning that Luigi could barely even see Lakithunder being fried alive.

When the huge lightning bolt was no more, all the green plumber could see now was a black shape, which broke down into ashes.

"Go off to fantasy land by yourself...slick," Luigi said to the ashes.

He then ran to Yoshi, who was injured and still paralyzed from the shock. The green dinosaur shuddered a few times.

Thinking of a way to help his friend, he searched into his overall pocket until he found something he got back in Yoshi's Island.

"Here, pal," Luigi said as he held out an herb and held Yoshi's mouth so that it was open. "I think you need this."

Luigi supported Yoshi's head so that the green dinosaur would be able to at least chew the herb.

Yoshi squinted through his closed eyes a few times (obviously struggling to open them) and exerted just about enough to be able to take in the herb Luigi gave to him. He chewed weakly and slowly.

Silence followed.

"Y...Yoshi...?" Luigi called his pal hesitantly.

Yoshi squeezed his closed eyelids and his mouth moved just a bit. Luigi could've sworn he saw the fingers twitch.

Then Yoshi opened his mouth (just a tiny open gap) and spoke one word.

"Luigi..."

"Yeah, it's a-me, Luigi."

Yoshi opened his eyes wide now, and jolted upward to a sitting position as if he were Tasered at the back.

"_Oh...!"_

"You're back, pal!" Luigi cheered.

"Of course I am!" Yoshi laughed.

The duo laughed along for a few minutes, just to savor the moment of another victory, then Luigi held his hand out.

Yoshi took it, and the green plumber helped him up.

"Where's Lakithunder?" Yoshi asked.

"Oh, that? He's gone." Luigi gestured to the ashes. Yoshi's eyes widened in surprise.

"You sure showed that Lakithunder who's boss," Yoshi said.

"Uh...," Luigi said nervously, blushing.

"By the way, pal..."

"Yes, Yoshi...?"

"How...did you _do_ all _that_?!"

"Do...what?"

"How'd you know that one of the lightning bolts Lakithunder had let loose among the clouds was coming for me—that it was going to strike from where I stood?"

Luigi just stared at Yoshi, speechless.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Hmm...Yes, Luigi, how _did_ you know the lightning was gonna strike Yoshi? Plus...how _did_ you survive Lakithunder's last lightning strike? XD

So, readers, curious as well? _Find out on the next chapter!_ ^^

Hooray 'cause "Luigi Gets His Hero On" has reached **fifteen chapters**! *insert epic round of applause here*

And because of that...**another concept art**! Woot! XD (Check out my profile page for the concept art's link since, as I said on my previous Author's Note in the tenth chapter, the FanFiction website _doesn't allow_ links on the stories. -_-)

You can also check out the **full version** of the "Luigi Gets His Hero On" official fanfic cover (the link is also on my profile page)! ^^

**Another concept art coming once the story reaches 20 chapters!** Stay tuned! ^^


	16. Behind the Tactics

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN:**

**Behind the Tactics**

"Well, um...," Luigi fidgeted, "something like a-that might take a lot of explaining to do..."

"Don't worry," Yoshi insisted. "I can handle the long explanation. Besides, it's not like Lakithunder will somehow emerge from the ashes and come back for us, right?"

Luigi gave Yoshi a look that clearly responded to the possibility of Lakithunder rising from the ashes like a phoenix.

Yoshi made a gesture with his fingers that prompted Luigi to explain.

"I'm listening, Luigi."

"A-well, um, you see..." Luigi took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. "When we were back-to-back, all tensed up for Lakithunder's wild lightning...I considered...this a-was sort of like a storm, right?"

"When there's a storm, lightning isn't far behind, and...?"

"In every storm, there's usually lightning along those lines..."

"And what else...?" Yoshi just seemed more confused with all Luigi was talking about.

"There's always the sound that follows after the lightning."

That sentence somehow dawned on Yoshi. "'Sound that follows'? You mean...thunder, right?"

"Yes, exactly a-that! So the moment I realized that there just might be the very possibility that I'd a-hear the sound of thunder roaring right after the lightning, I had to shut my eyes..."

Yoshi blanched. "You said to keep our eyes open—wasn't that kinda dangerous of you to do?"

"Uh, I considered that, too. But with the chances of us being barbequed and all, I decided I was willing to be that insane to test it out."

Yoshi shook his head and gave the green plumber a disapproving look.

"So—back to what I was saying—I shut my eyes and tried _this_ hard to listen for the thunder that I was sure would come after, and when I did, I tried to pinpoint the direction where it'd come from...And I soon realized that it was fast approaching us."

Yoshi flinched.

"Then there was a-panic—a mean string of lightning was about to strike where you where, pal."

The green dinosaur cringed from the memory of being partially struck by lightning.

"I had to shout not only as loud as I could, but also as a-fast as I could so you would be able to respond quickly and dodge before it was too late. But I guess I didn't do it fast enough, because...a-well..." Luigi trailed off, looking away from Yoshi and staring off at the clouds with regretful eyes.

Yoshi rubbed Luigi's shoulder sympathetically.

"When you where down on the cloudy floor, I realized a-that it was just a-me and Lakithunder now. I was still holding on to my Spiny egg—while you apparently had already let go of yours and it dropped off—and I was like, 'I'm all alone on this one.' "

"That must be pretty hard."

"Oh, it _is_—you have _no_ idea. Plus, there a-was the fact that he could conjure lightning. With the Spiny egg still in my hand, it felt like it was _all or nothing_ for me. He laughed and taunted me, and then he said it was time for me to go back to my fantasy forever—"

Yoshi shivered.

"—and the whole time he said that, I was just standing there, not wanting to show Lakithunder I was chickening inside, because I was sure that it would give me away. I tried to hold on to my façade as much as I could, all while racking my head for a plan that would help bring about the end of Lakithunder, and I saw the lightning concentrated on his fingers, and I realized it was coming for me."

Yoshi's eyes bulged.

"Somewhere in-between his fits of hysterical laughter, my mind drifted off to my _Mario Strikers_ days, and I decided to put my soccer skills to good use—as a-well as hope that my skills hadn't rusted up."

Yoshi didn't reply at all to Luigi's words, so the latter continued. "The moment he gathered all the lightning from his hand and pit it all on that finger, I tensed myself for carrying out my plan. The moment I saw the first sparks of lightning being discharged from his finger, I suddenly dropped the Spiny egg I was holding."

Luigi stopped and glanced at Yoshi. The green dinosaur didn't reply at all, just eager to have Luigi continue.

And he did. "I saw the entire massive force of lightning a-coming for me—and let me tell you, pal, it was probably enough to bake a million lasagnes—and, crossing my fingers and with as much force as I could possibly give, I kicked the Spiny egg high up, timing it so that it was able to absorb the lightning, causing even a smoke around the area where I was, and when the Spiny egg was able to absorb it all and it was a-fully charged, the smoke slowly began to clear, and I was kinda pleased to see that Lakithunder was shocked at the fact that I _wasn't_ dead at all."

"I can _imagine_," Yoshi mumbled.

"So now it was _my_ turn to strike. I kicked the charged-up Spiny egg so hard that it went launching off across until it smacked Lakithunder hard on the face and he fell off the storm cloud he was riding on." Luigi laughed a bit from the memory.

Yoshi smiled.

"So now a-that temporarily made Lakithunder totally vulnerable. He swayed off, fully off guard from the blow. Then I heard the unmistakable sound of the thunder and realized where it was headed."

"Where Lakithunder was," Yoshi said. It wasn't a guess.

"Yes, that _sure_ was! He didn't realize that it was a-coming for him! It hit him directly from below where _he_ was, and he didn't have time to dodge at all. It obviously roasted him good, 'cause all I saw after the lightning where his ashes."

"So that's the end of Lakithunder."

"Yeah, but then I saw _you_ all injured up. I had to help you out, so I decided to give you the herb I found, hoping it could heal you—and it did."

"Hmm...I was also thinking of that, where did you get that herb you gave me?"

"Oh, I found it back when we were in Yoshi's Island. I saw it from the corner of my eye and it caught my attention. I realized that it was the herb Mario and I used to heal ourselves from poisoning and other status problems back during our _Mario & Luigi_ days. So...I decided to pick it up, thinking we just might need it. And apparently, we _did_."

"Wow, uh, thanks, Luigi. I'm glad you picked it up. Who knows what would've happened."

"Don't mention it, pal."

Before Yoshi could say more, something caught the duo's attention—the ashes suddenly faded away like they were a part of yet another dream (even though Luigi and Yoshi were clearly sure that what was happening was a reality this time).

In place of the ashes, there was another rolled up piece of parchment.

"Another riddle," Luigi sighed.

"Pretty much, yeah," Yoshi said.

Luigi went toward the parchment and picked it up. He unrolled it to read—and to _try_ to figure out—the next riddle.

"What's it say?" Yoshi asked, approaching Luigi.

Luigi didn't say anything; he just held out the parchment for Yoshi to read.

Yoshi read the words written on the parchment:

_Boos, Boo Guys, Ghosts..._

_They All Welcome You to This Mansion for Your Epic Spookfest._

_You're Invited, Luigi and Yoshi. Before you go rescue your friends, drop by_

_To Scream Like There's No Tomorrow._

Luigi and Yoshi looked at each other.

"That's new—this one _didn't_ rhyme," Yoshi commented.

"Plus, there's _no Math_ involved," Luigi added, grateful.

"In addition to that, this sounds more like an invitation than an actual riddle."

"And we don't a-have to try so hard to figure out where to go this time."

Yoshi nodded, then he and Luigi said at the same time:

"We're off to Luigi's Mansion."


	17. Dungeon Downs

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:**

**Dungeon Downs**

_**This entire chapter will be about how Mario and company are doing back at Bowser's Castle. I made this, 'cause, well, you might all be thinking I'd forgotten about them.**_

_In Bowser's Castle:_

"Hurry up, captives," a Hammer Bro said, "it's time to your dinner!"

"I don't like this," Toadsworth muttered, "I wonder if what they're going to feed us is actually _clean_."

Mario, Princess Peach, Toadsworth, and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom Castle captives were in chains; only their hands were partially free to be able to get a tray and pick up their dinner. Princess Peach looked at the table where they were obviously going to pick their food, and made a disgusted face at the menu.

"Ugh," Princess Peach muttered, "don't they have anything good?"

Mario followed Princess Peach's gaze, and shook his head. "It's always the same old thing in Bowser's place."

"I'm not allowing this," Toadsworth mumbled low, his voice with the same level of disgust as with Princess Peach's voice. "And to think that Bowser considers himself 'royalty.' " He snorted.

"Hey," another Hammer Bro called, "are you guys going to get your dinner or not?"

"Given the choices in the menu, I'd rather _starve_," Toadsworth complained.

"Let's just hang on to all this—I'm sure we'll be able to get out of here soon," Mario whispered to Toadsworth, then he said to the Hammer Bro, "Yeah, we'll go and get our food."

The Hammer Bro narrowed his eyes and said, "Good—and here I thought you _weren't_ going to. If His Majesty finds out you guys weren't eating, not only will you guys get the rage, so will I—for 'slacking' off my job."

"Really?" Mario asked, trying to make small talk with the Hammer Bro. "And I don't suppose that, after you _do_ get 'the rage,' you'll be out of the job?"

The Hammer Bro shrugged. "Hopefully not..."

He and Mario stared at each other in silence for a long period of time.

"Well, get going," the Hammer Bro grunted all of a sudden. "Are you going to eat or do you wanna _starve_?"

"We'll eat," Mario said. Behind him, he heard Toadsworth's mumbled complaint about the food, then Princess Peach's soothing words:

"Relax, Toadsworth, being kidnapped by Bowser for so many games, eventually you get used to the food."

Mario looked straight, careful not to show any sign of reaction toward the voices he heard behind him. Then he looked at the food set on the table.

All the plates there were filled with all sorts of things only a creature as ghastly as Bowser himself would appreciate. Even food being served in a jail cell would be better compared to what was given here as a choice.

_Of course,_ Mario reasoned to himself, _it's not like you had _better food_ during your years when you were always the one who had to bring back Princess Peach._ He then considered it, and amended, _In second thought, maybe I was way better off during my princess-rescuing years._

"Mario?"

The red plumber turned around to see Toadsworth looking at him directly with sober eyes.

"Yes, Toadsworth?"

"Will there still be hope for us to ever get out of here?"

Mario nodded without hesitation. Toadsworth looked at him with somehow doubtful eyes, as if Mario had nodded automatically without taking time to even let the words sink in.

"Yes, I believe we'll still get out of theez place...alive."

Toadsworth's eyes widened.

Mario sighed. "I know, I know, it's not a-going to be easy...But I _do_ know Luigi and Yoshi are out there." He then looked straight, as if he were looking somewhere that wasn't around the walls of Bowser's Castle, his eyes set somehow else; Toadsworth could tell the plump Mario Brother wasn't talking to him anymore. "They're coming for us—they'll save us this time around. And I know it won't be long before we a-finally get out of here."

"I can see you have unwavering faith on your brother, Mario, but...how far have those two gone?"

Mario broke from his reverie then; his eyes blinked as if his focus had been taken back to Bowser's Castle; his eyes focused on the grave expression on Toadsworth's face. Toadsworth was expecting an answer, but Mario didn't have one, so it took him a minute to choose his words carefully.

"I have no idea."


	18. Destination Scream

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:**

**Destination Scream**

Luigi and Yoshi arrived in front of the über-famous Luigi's Mansion. It was exactly the same as it was during those past few games where Luigi'd gone ghost-hunting: it was still scary, still clearly showing signs of abandonment, and it still was infested with Boos, spooks, and all sorts of ghosts.

Luigi shivered.

"What's wrong, pal?" Yoshi asked. "Haven't you gotten used to all this?"

"Probably still not," he replied in a barely audible voice.

"Come on—you've got an upcoming game soon. What was it called again? Oh yeah—_Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon_. And I heard your handy Polter-something's getting an upgrade 'cause ghosts in your new game _aren't_ vulnerable to flashlights anymore. I'm sure one more game can toughen you up, right?"

Luigi gulped.

"I think this is a good chance to tense you up for the next _Luigi's Mansion_ game."

Luigi glared at Yoshi. "And _you_, pal? What about _your_ up and coming a-game called _Yarn Yoshi_? _I_ heard there's all sorts of whatnot coming up in there."

Yoshi's eyes widened innocently. "Cool—_I_ have a _new game_ coming, too?"

Luigi stared at Yoshi with disbelief. "_You_ know about _my_ games yet you _don't have a clue_ about _yours_ at _all_?"

Yoshi shrugged.

Luigi groaned. "Well, _that's_ just a-great."

"What are you boys doing here?" a voice called in the darkness.

Yoshi strained to see who was the figure lurking among the shadows, but soon the person began to move—and finally emerged from the shadows to reveal himself.

The figure who revealed himself appeared to be short, probably and likely even shorter than Mario. He also appeared to be of age, with wrinkles here and there. He wore a lab coat and sported those odd bifocals, so it was obvious he was a scientist of some sort.

But, Yoshi wondered, just _who_ was he?

"Oh, it's Professor E. Gadd," Luigi said, answering Yoshi's mental question, his voice sounding oddly distant.

Yoshi turned beside him to see that Luigi was no longer there. He was confused, wondering where the green plumber had possibly gone.

"I'm up here, Yoshi."

Yoshi looked up above him to see that Luigi was on the tree, perched on a tree branch. Yoshi looked at him with mystified eyes.

"I just a-got a bit surprised, that's all," Luigi quickly explained before Yoshi could ask.

"Who's this Professor What-Got?" Yoshi asked.

"That's _E. Gadd_ to you, my green dinosaur friend," the short old man corrected. He offered his hand. "I am Professor Elvin Gadd. Just call me Professor E. Gadd, if you please."

Yoshi looked at the hand offered to him, then he took it and shook it once.

"Uh, hey there, I'm Yoshi..."

"I must say," Professor E. Gadd said as he looked up; Luigi still hadn't come down from the tree branch he was perched on. "Get down from there, you mustache'd fellow. You're gonna get yourself a broken bone for sure."

"Okay," Luigi said as he tried to move his leg aside to be able to swing his way down. He failed miserably, and ended up falling from the branch and landing on a nearby bush.

"I'm okay," Luigi said, spitting out some of the leaves that were caught in his mouth.

"What are you two green rascals doing here?" the professor asked, obviously just as bewildered see the duo as they were when they first saw him.

"We're here to enter the mansion," Yoshi said, very straightforward about it. "Mario and the other people in Peach Castle were kidnapped, and we just recently got a clue to head here."

"Off ghost-hunting, huh?" Professor E. Gadd said, very sceptical about it.

"Yeah, somewhere along those lines."

"Well, the place has been increasing on paranormal activity lately, so it would be nice for you two youngsters to do the job." Professor E. Gadd then eyed Yoshi and turned to Luigi. "Luigi, my boy, maybe you should give the little green guy a quick tutorial on Ghost Hunting 101. I'll meet you at my lab after about roughly three hours or so. I'm sure you know where it is."

"Why 'after three hours'?" Luigi asked.

"Because I'm planning to do something for the sake of ghost-busting research, my lad. And three hours is long enough for you to teach your friend there." Professor E. Gadd gestured to Yoshi.

Yoshi watched as the professor turned around and walked away toward his lab, wherever it was. Then he turned to Luigi.

"So, Yoshi, ready to learn the basics of ghost hunting?"

Yoshi smiled with much determination. "Ready, teacher!"

Both of them laughed.


	19. Ghost-Busting Tools of the Trade

**CHAPTER NINETEEN:**

**Ghost-Busting Tools of the Trade**

"So, let's a-have a quick rundown on what I taught you, Yoshi," Luigi said, his voice sounding somehow strained due to the straight hours of endless ghost-busting lecturing.

Yoshi grinned. "Okay, you ask, I'll answer."

"Gather up your ghost-busting weapon."

Yoshi took the twigs and leaves he'd gotten together to make the dud weapon. "Got it."

"Where's the flashlight?"

"Right where the nozzle is."

"A-what about the vacuum?"

"Let's see...Oh yeah, also where the nozzle is."

"How do you activate between the flashlight and the vacuum?"

"Easy—you flick the switch to the right"—Yoshi gestured to the side where the switch could actually be—"to activate the flashlight function. To activate the vacuum function, you push the button here"—he turned to the side that was parallel to his right hand—"and hold down the trigger"—he squeezed a side of the nozzle—"and aim at the ghost to reel it in."

Luigi's shoulder's shook. His mouth was pressed tight, like he was trying hard not to laugh.

"What?" Yoshi demanded.

"Sorry, my friend, but you're wrong."

"What?!"

"You're a-pushing the wrong button, pal. _This_"—he pointed to another position on the side of Yoshi's make-believe ghost vacuum—"is where the vacuum function should be activated."

"Oh...?"

"Now, you hold down the trigger like a-this"—Luigi took hold of Yoshi's hand to demonstrate the proper way—"then you a-have to aim it at your target."

"Then release the trigger, all while holding down the button, is that right?"

"That's a-right!" Luigi approved.

"Wow, I never realized how hard it is to kick ghostly butt, pal," Yoshi chuckled.

Luigi made a face.

"Ah, I see you boys are done?"

Both Luigi and Yoshi turned around to see that it was Professor E. Gadd again; he had a weird expression on his face.

"A-what is it, Professor?" Luigi asked.

"I asked first, young man," the professor reminded.

"Yeah, we're done—Luigi practically told me the basics," Yoshi answered.

"Good—just in time; I was just about to have you boys come with me to my lab."

"A-what for?"

Professor E. Gadd waved off Luigi's question, somehow impatient. "Just come with me."

* * *

Luigi and Yoshi arrived in the lab, which was nearby the mansion. Inside, it was full of all sorts of weird gadgets, gizmos, and different kinds and types of technological what-so's.

"Weird stuff," Yoshi commented once.

"Now," Luigi pressed on the question the professor had waved off earlier, "what did you a-want us here for?"

"I've just given the Poltergust 3000 an upgrade."

Luigi's eyes looked like they could just pop out of their sockets. _"A-what?!"_

"You heard me right, my boy—apparently it seems flashlights aren't enough to stun some of the ghosts there anymore. That's why I need to give your ghost-busting weapon a major makeover."

"Wow, a-really?" Luigi was practically jumping for joy right now.

"Yes, and...your green friend beside you will be getting his own weapon, too."

Now it was _Yoshi_ who looked like his eyes could just pop out their sockets. "Uh..._me_...?"

"Exactly—who else?"

"Wow, that's, um, nice of you, Professor...," Yoshi mumbled, surprised that the professor had been busy the whole time making him a weapon to beat the bad guys, too.

"Where are the weapons?" Luigi asked eagerly.

"Right here," the professor said as he walked toward the darkest corner of the lab and pulled out two heavy-looking things which looked like a cross-breed between a backpack and a vacuum cleaner. Both were red; the first one looked common yet shinier, like it was recently taken out from a shop; the second one was smaller, and the shiny seal from the first one was replaced by a seal that looked just like a Yoshi egg. The nozzle was shaped just like a half-open Yoshi egg as well.

It was easy to tell which one was for either one of the two.

"Wow, Professor, I...I don't know what to say," Yoshi stuttered.

"Just say you two will do the job getting rid of all this paranormal activity going on in the mansion, because that's all I want to hear," the professor replied.

"Sure we will," Yoshi replied confidently.

"Let's a-go, Yoshi," Luigi said—he already had the Poltergust 3000 strapped onto his back.

Yoshi jumped a little in surprise, then he smiled—just earlier Luigi was shaking like crazy with the idea that they were going to head in the mansion and beat some ghosts up. But after the professor mentioned new weapons and upgrades...

"Yoshi," Luigi urged.

"Okay, I'm coming," Yoshi laughed at Luigi's sudden eagerness and strapped the smaller vacuum—the one that was his—and followed Luigi's lead.

Well, it was a good thing to have Luigi all pumped up and ready to fight.

"Good luck, boys," the professor said as the duo made their way out of the lab.

"Don't worry—I'm sure we'll be fine," Luigi replied as he continued to make his way to the mansion.


	20. Exploring the Dark

**CHAPTER TWENTY:**

**Exploring the Dark**

Luigi, holding on to the nozzle, opened the mansion's door; it creaked noisily yet creepily.

"Anyone here?" Luigi asked, knowing it was a stupid question; there was either anyone here, or no one here at all—at least, not anyone _solid_ around the mansion.

To answer his question, there was echoed laughter among the cobwebbed hallways.

"Uh, yeah...," Luigi mumbled.

The two went in; the door shut—well, _slammed_ was the better word for it—behind them, leaving a huge cloud of dust in its wake.

"_Very_ welcoming," Yoshi commented.

The dup practically tiptoed along the predictably and seemingly empty hallway, armed, tensed, and ready for anything that could possibly pop out of nowhere.

"Remember what I taught you, pal," Luigi said, his hand clutched tight onto the nozzle of the newly-upgraded Poltergust 3000.

Yoshi just nodded in response.

It felt weird walking in the dark silence of the mansion; there seemed to be nothing in store. Or maybe it was just a ghost's habit to pop out unexpectedly at the worst possible moment. Hard to say...

Yoshi opened his mouth to say something to Luigi—or, he'd been _about_ to when suddenly a moving, faded figure emerged from the floor and charged right at the two, making the typical moaning sounds of a ghost.

"Yaagh!" Luigi gasped.

"I'll get him!" Yoshi shouted, arming the nozzle of his weapon and aiming it at the ghostly figure. He did the very same things Luigi had taught him just hours ago—he flipped the switch, pushed the button—

_Shoot,_ Yoshi said to himself, _I pushed the _wrong_ button!_

"Yoshi!" Luigi complained when he saw that the green dinosaur had gotten the button part wrong. The ghost rammed itself straight at Luigi, who was just about to take his turn on getting rid of the ghost when Yoshi failed.

"Grod, it a-got me," Luigi groaned in a cuss.

"Ugh—I'm sorry I messed it up, Luigi," Yoshi apologized in a rush, feeling stupid that he'd gotten it wrong despite the many times they rehearsed, and also feeling stupid that his apologies will never really work.

"Gah—I can still a-_feel_ this guy!" Luigi shouted. "And he a-feels _disgusting_!"

"H-hold on," Yoshi said, scowling to himself and trying to pull himself together. "I'll—I'll try to stun him a bit…"

Yoshi activated the flashlight function and, just as he'd been hoping for, he managed to stun the ghost for a while.

The ghost screamed; it echoed across the hallway.

"It's my turn," Luigi said as, with the actions of a boss, he activated the vacuum function of his Poltergust 3000 and sucked the faded ectoplasmic fiend into his backpack.

"That'll hold him in for a while," Luigi said, patting his backpack.

Luigi was then aware of Yoshi's eyes staring at him.

"A-what?" Luigi demanded, feeling self-conscious.

"Just wondering—how do all the ghosts you capture fit in that bag?" Yoshi asked.

Luigi shrugged. "Blame it on video game 'Infini-Pockets.' How else do the video game characters fit _all_ those Pokémon, 1-Up Mushrooms, and healing items in this bag"—he gesturd to the Poltergust 3000—"and what's worse, these measly overalls?" He patted his stomach.

Yoshi laughed. "Yeah, I guess it _does_ make some sense when you think about it…."

Luigi joined in with the laughter. "Okay, that's enough speculating—let's go bust some ghosts."

Yoshi grinned. Seeing Luigi in action got him all pumped up and ready. He felt more confident—a lot more certain that he wasn't going to screw up this time around. "Sure right."

The duo wandered around the darkened hallways once again.

* * *

But, what they didn't know was this—someone was watching them.

"Oh look, it's that green plumber again," a ghostly voice snickered. "And he's brought over _another_ green friend of his."

The ghostly figure smiled. "Ah well, it doesn't matter—those two will be crying before they even realize it!"

The large, ghostly figure laughed one more time as he drifted away, the crown on his head gleaming faintly—and somehow creepily—in the shadows.

"They will _both_ scream upon seeing me—_King Boo_!"

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

Good glob, it's **King Boo**! XD

Finally, I thought I'd never get this done—the **20****th**** chapter** of "Luigi Gets His Hero On"! ^^

As usual, I made a **concept art** for it (look it up on my profile page).

There's another concept art coming when chapter *insert your guess* comes up!

As usual, stay tuned! :D


	21. Busting Spooks

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:**

**Busting Spooks**

"By the way, Luigi," Yoshi asked after a while since they'd entered a creepy-looking guest room, "before I came and helped you out with this whole ghost-busting thing, what was it like? You know, being alone and all that?"

"Uh..." Luigi seemed reluctant to answer. "_W-ell_, I'd say if you _weren't_ here, it would've been twice as hard as it just might a-be right now."

"I don't suppose you fell for a couple of ghostly stuff more than twice when you busted the ghosts solo?" Yoshi teased.

Luigi gave the green dinosaur a dirty look. "_Very_ funny, Yoshi—very funny."

Another ghost emerged from a painting.

"There's another one, Luigi!" Yoshi shouted.

"Quick," Luigi said to Yoshi, "we a-need to stun that ghost!"

"Gah!" Yoshi gasped when the ghost floated closer to him. He ducked out of the way.

"Here I go," Luigi yelled as he activated the flashlight function and stunned the wild ectoplasm. The ghost screamed as the light blinded him for a second.

The ghost floated unsteadily, screaming, wailing, and reaching for things that weren't there.

"Quick, Yoshi," Luigi said, "activate the vacuum function and reel that ghost in!"

Yoshi hesitated; he didn't respond immediately, fidgeting a little. "Uh..."

"What are you a-waiting for?!" Luigi cried with impatience and shock at the green dinosaur's lack of immediate response.

"I might screw it up again...," he mumbled.

Luigi just shook his head (he flashed another ray of light at the ghost just as the latter had been about to recover and attack again). "Yoshi," he said, "there's always a first time in everything. Look at me—I've screwed up _lots of times_ in the past. And, sure, there were times when even _I_ needed a-saving by Mario, but that didn't mean I had to stay that way forever. Believe me"—he glanced at the ghost for a while to check if it was going to recover yet another time, then he continued—"there's always a second try, a-right?"

Yoshi was in awe at Luigi—just way back from the very beginning they'd started the journey, _Luigi_ had always been the one who needed convincing; it had always been _Yoshi's_ job to talk him and convince him into facing the unknown and battle with their wits.

How strange it seems that, after everything they'd gone through, the whole situation would seem so awfully _backward_ now—that this time, it was _Luigi_ who was talking _Yoshi_ into facing and battling the unknown.

_Luigi sure has grown in this journey,_ Yoshi said to himself. And for a while, his mind drifted backward, looking at all the things they'd faced together.

"Hello? Yoshi...?" Luigi suddenly broke into the green dinosaur's short reverie. "I must say, Yoshi, this is already zee _third time_ I stunned the ghost!"

Yoshi shook off the thoughts and the memories—telling to himself that he'd save it for when the whole mess would be over—and nodded with a lot more confidence this time.

Luigi's eyes narrowed. "Uh, Yoshi...? What were you thinking?"

"Uh, it's nothing," Yoshi said quickly. And, for the second time, he did, step by step, what Luigi had taught him—push the button, hold down the trigger, then—

In an action so fast that neither one of the two had time to even blink, the nozzle in Yoshi's customized ghost-busting vacuum sucked in the blinded ghost in an electrified whirlwind, reeling him in until he was no more.

A few of the captured ghost's echoed screams filled the hallways.

"You did it," Luigi said.

Yoshi turned to the green plumber and saw a huge (and somehow smug) grin at his face.

"Aw, shucks, pal, it was nothing," Yoshi said in an offhand tone.

Luigi rolled his eyes. "You know, Yoshi, seeing _that_ before my eyes, I can't a-say that it's nothing."

Yoshi shrugged. "You're just saying that to cheer me up on my noob-ness. But then again, I don't blame you."

"It was fun to watch, really. I swear, it was like seeing me in action from my very first _Luigi's Mansion_ game."

"Uh, well, thanks, I guess."

"Good job, pal."

"Uh, thanks, too. Now"—Yoshi looked around and saw a white shape flash from the corner of his eye—"I think I saw another one of those ghosts in the guest room. Let's go catch more ghosts."

"Sure will."

The duo entered the guest room where Yoshi could've sworn he saw a ghost (or maybe two).

As soon, as Luigi set his foot past the door, he encountered a couple of Greenies lurking and floating around on the ceiling, phasing back and forth paintings, and making a mockery out of it.

"Great scoops of spaghetti," Luigi gasped. "It's those darn Greenies again!"

"Greenies?" Yoshi asked.

"Ah…you know, Greenies—just call them that way."

"Well"—Yoshi dodged out of the way as a Greenie floated toward him—"let's just stun those green ghosts!"

And the green dinosaur activated the flashlight function the second time, aiming it at the approaching Greenie.

…But surprisingly, it _didn't_ work?!

Yoshi started as he saw the Greenie stick out its tongue at him and floated away, making more mischief in the guest room.

"What'd I do _that_ time?!" Yoshi gasped, shocked at the sudden failure. He was so sure he's pressed the _right button_….

"I didn't think you did anything wrong," Luigi said, his eyes squinting. "I'm sure I saw you press it the _right_ way…."

"But what—"

"Maybe it was a-what the professor said," Luigi hastily recalled. "You know, before we a-went off, he said that there were some ghosts who wouldn't be stunned by flashlights anymore. And these Greenies must be some of those ghosts!"

"You don't say…?"

"I'm sure the professor said something about a major upgrade for my Poltergust 3—Oh look, _jeez_, look," Luigi cussed sarcastically. "I _swear_ the professor needs serious new eyeglasses! It clearly says Poltergust _5000_ and _not_ 3000!" He turned around so Yoshi could see the branded _Poltergust 5000_ etched all over it.

"Wow—5000 already?" Yoshi said, clearly in awe. "What happened to the 4000?"

"Poltergust 4000 was one of my karts in _Mario Kart DS_, remember?"

"Oh—you're right."

"Well, I'm sure that there must a-be _something_ that can counteract these Greenies' immunity to flashlights."

"And that may be...?"

Luigi facepalmed himself when a sudden realization dawned on him. "I...don't know." And in that instant, he began fiddling around with the buttons and controls.

"Luigi, there are more of them coming," Yoshi said, gesturing to a couple more Greenies coming into the guest room and joining the original two in making more madness.

"I'm working on how to activate the new features!" Luigi began pressing random buttons of stuff he'd just discovered on his new Poltergust that he hadn't seen on his old one.

"Well, I suggest you do it fast, pal."

"Hey—I wonder what'll happen if you press this—" Luigi spoke all too soon, and the strangest light came out of the Poltergust's nozzle, and shined at the Greenie that was just about to attack him. The Greenie screeched and trembled, shocked and also disturbed by the blindness.

"Wow," Luigi breathed. "I wonder what that light was?"

"It sure was enough to stun the green guy," Yoshi pointed out.

"Okay—time to suck him in!" Quick to activate the vacuum function, the nozzle took in the stunned ghost in an electrified whirlwind, until he was inside the backpack.

"One down, and..." Yoshi looked at the Greenies in the guest room. "...six more to go."


	22. The Sudden Darkness

**CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:**

**The Sudden Darkness**

"I'm sure the professor gave you the same upgrade, right?" Luigi said, then wondered if Professor E. Gadd really had.

"I...don't really know," Yoshi admitted.

"Well, we can't just stand here speculating away—we need to bust a-more of these green fiends!"

Yoshi nodded and, just like what Luigi'd done seconds ago, he began fiddling around with the controls; he started messing around with buttons he hadn't tried yet.

"Let's see...," Yoshi mumbled to himself, "I wonder what _this_ button can do...?"

As Yoshi clicked it, the very same light that had just emitted from the nozzle of Luigi's Poltergust came out of the nozzle of Yoshi's.

"I guess the professor didn't forget after all," Luigi said with relief. He started flashing the same mysterious light at the attacking Greenies.

"Let's show these green ghosts who's boss!" Yoshi said.

"You took those words a-right out of my mouth."

The duo continued to flash the mysterious lights at the remaining Greenies—some of them already shivering with fear—and suck them in their ghost-busting backpacks.

After a flurry of lights and electrified vacuums, Luigi and Yoshi found themselves panting from subtle exhaustion.

"Gah—I've never been _this_ tired since the entire time we started this journey," Yoshi gasped breathlessly.

"A ghost-busting hero's job is never done," Luigi exhaled in a huff.

Yoshi breathed out a few more exhausted breaths, then he stood up straight. "Okay, I think we managed to bust a handful of ghosts, but...Am I wrong, or do we feel like we're going nowhere with this?"

"What do you mean?" Luigi asked in a pant.

"We've been walking around here for I don't know how long, we took in some ghosts, but, well, we _still_ haven't gotten a hint on what this has to do with the fact Mario and the others are captured—"

"—or at least a reason _why_ we're here in the first place or maybe a great big bad guy to beat up so we can get the next riddle or whatever to rescuing everyone," Luigi muttered, agreeing with the green dinosaur.

"Is this trip really a waste of time, pal?"

"Actually, I was a-starting to think about the same thing, but I doubt it—we couldn't have gotten that 'invite' or whatever to this place _before_ we go save Mario and the rest. Maybe there's a hint somewhere here—maybe we need to do something to find it..."

"You may be right, Luigi, but"—Yoshi looked straight, his eyes not focused on his surroundings—"_what_ could it be?"

All of a sudden the lights (the dim ones that managed to illuminate the guest room where the two were even a little bit) went out.

Both Luigi and Yoshi opened their eyes in shock of the sudden darkness.

"A-what—?" Luigi shouted.

"Hey—I don't know what just happened either," Yoshi gasped.

"Great—now I can't see my own hands in front of me," Luigi complained.

There was a muffled sinister laughter around in the darkness.

"_Very_ funny, Yoshi, _very_ funny," Luigi scoffed. "I always knew you were trying to push me to face the scary stuff, but you a-sure picked the _wrong time_ for all this."

"Luigi, let me assure you—it wasn't me," Yoshi said in a tone that immediately convinced the green plumber he wasn't in a joking mood.

"Then who would—?"

"Ooh, look—it's the green twosome," a sneering voice hissed; following it was a fit of broken hissing laughter.

From the corner of Luigi's eye, he saw a fading, white shape floating. When he turned to take a closer look, it disappeared before he could even make out of the shape.

Then there was a faded shine from the place where the figure that just disappeared was.

"Wait—what's a-that?!" Luigi narrowed his eyes.

There was no response, just a creepy silence that followed, pounding at Luigi's ears.

...followed by a hollow voice.

_Why do you still fight...when you know you'll lose?_


	23. Images of Depression

**CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE:**

**Images of Depression**

"Who said that?" Yoshi asked, turning around to see, but there was nothing but the dark.

_Why don't you two just give up? After all, it's going to turn out into nothing, anyway..._

"Ugh—just _who_ and _where_ are you?!" Luigi hissed.

_That isn't important; it's rather foolish of you two to go and risk your lives for those people—most especially when you know you'll lose._

"Says who?" Yoshi objected.

_Says this._

At first the duo couldn't make sense of what the voice was saying until a flash of something swirled about in the darkness and continued until it formed a shape.

Luigi felt an odd mixture of shock and sadness as he saw the shape that formed.

It was his brother, Mario. He looked just the same as the last time the green plumber had ever laid eyes on him.

But that wasn't the cause of the sadness Luigi felt inside of him.

He could clearly see that his brother was suffering—his face was drenched in sweat, the crease between his brows caused by sheer exhaustion and difficulty. He looked closer to what a person looked like as he was going to spend the succeeding years of his life rotting away in a dungeon.

Which was likely what Bowser had planned for his main nemesis.

Luigi blinked and had to swallow hard to avoid the lump of emotion building up in his throat.

"Mario...," Luigi said in a shaky voice.

As the green plumber walked forward, the shape blurred, changed into something else.

Yoshi started, and so did Luigi.

It was the same suffering image of Mario, but this time it had the company of Princess Peach, Toadsworth, and the rest of the Toads that had been held captive.

"Gah, what is this?" Yoshi whispered.

_Now you see? Now you can see that your trip is in vain?_

"What do you mean 'in vain'?" Luigi objected. "We're here because we're going to _avoid_ all this!"

_Oh, but maybe you two should know that you can't stand up and play hero no matter how badly you want to. I think it's time for me to show you fools that you should've long given up this quest at the very beginning, while you still had the chance._

And with a flash of movement, the scene abruptly changed into something else.

There was Bowser, behind him and above him were a legion of Lakitus, an entire army of Hammer Bro soldiers, and a mass battalion of Koopa Troopas armed and ready to fight. They probably had more than ten times the population of the entire Mushroom Kingdom.

Luigi felt his knees tremble, but he struggled to ignore it.

_Do you see what you are up against? To save your friends, you have to go up against all of them as an army of two. Can you green imbeciles even _hope _for that kind of thing? Can you two even hope for an easy victory?_

_Are you willing to sacrifice yourselves for all that foolishness?_

Luigi tensed. He now saw what he and Yoshi would be up against, and that didn't make the whole quest to save Mario and the others any easier. It was a lose situation, even if they _did_ knock down a couple of Koopas or two, the rest of the numbers would bring them down.

Was there really _no way to win_ at all?

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw Yoshi sigh and move. He turned away from the intimidating image of their enemies laid in front of him and saw that Yoshi had strapped off his Poltergust and put it down.

The green dinosaur turned to Luigi with his head to the floor.

"I can't believe what we're up against...I'm...sorry, pal, but I think we don't have a prayer against Bowser, even if we _do_ finish our business here in the mansion. I think...we need to stop this while we still have the chance."

Luigi could hardly believe what he was hearing.

Had Yoshi, who had been motivating him _the entire time_, actually suggested on _aborting their mission_?!


	24. Giving Up

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:**

**Giving Up**

"You...can_not_ be serious, pal!" Luigi spluttered in shock.

"Oh, but I am," Yoshi said, his tone sad. "What chance do we have? We'll only die trying to save everyone there."

"I figured as much, but..."

"But what? Luigi, I don't get why we have to stretch this out any longer. In fact, I don't know why we're even _here_ in the first place! What are we searching for here, anyway? We've been busting ghosts, but we haven't gotten a clue yet as to _why_ we have to do it!"

"I'm sure there's a reason why we were asked to come here before saving Mario and the others...," Luigi murmured.

Yoshi nodded, his mouth set in a straight and serious line; it crept the green plumber out too much. "Yes, I suppose you're right, Luigi, you're absolutely right—I fear the reason we were asked to come here was to realize that the quest we started was a waste of time."

Luigi stumbled a couple of steps back. "You a-can't be saying—"

"Yes, I meant what I said, pal."

Luigi shook his head, flabbergasted by everything that was coming out of the green dinosaur's mouth right now. "I can't _believe _what I'm a-hearing! After _everything_ we've been through together as a team..."

"I know, I know, Luigi. Even I felt that it was fun in its odd way. And every victory motivated us to move forward." Yoshi smiled a little, but it showed no sign that he was going to reconsider any of the words he'd said.

"What are you trying to point out, Yoshi?" Luigi asked in a strained voice, bracing himself for the impossible word that was likely to come out of Yoshi's mouth right now.

Yoshi hesitated, then he said slowly and carefully, "Luigi, I think we should just give up."

The two words hit Luigi with the force of tidal wave, even more lethal than the bolts of Lakithunder's lightning.

_Give up._

Luigi scratched his head in disgust. "Seriously, Yoshi! You've been pushing us—particularly _me_—forward since the very beginning of our quest and now that we've come _this far_, you're suddenly going to chicken out and say that we should _give up_?!"

Yoshi frowned at the Luigi's stubbornness.

"Listen to yourself, pal! You sound _exactly_ like me from the very beginning this whole mess started!" Luigi could hardly believe that, right now, the situation would seem so...backward! "I didn't even want to start this rescue mission thing in the first place! But you were there, and _you_ told me that it was up to us to rescue them, because a-this time, Mario isn't around to save the day, and it's up to us! But now?! Ugh, now it's actually _you_ who's going to back out and _I'm_ the one urging you to do all this! You got me into this, pal, and _we should finish what we started_!"

Yoshi rolled his eyes. "Maybe you haven't seen the sense there, Luigi. I only convinced you to do this rescue mission thing because I knew there was little of anyone else who could do the job. But...did you know I had _another reason_ why I had us to this quest?"

"Huh?" Luigi blinked.

"You see...," Yoshi said, embarrassed now, "the main reason I got us into this was because...well...I thought this was what you wanted."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, Luigi, didn't you say that you wanted to be recognized as a hero just this once? That you wanted to at least hear someone cheer your name? I sort of decided that, since Mario was captured along with the others, I figured this was your chance. Well, I realized that I was wrong."

"No, there's a-nothing wrong with what you did, Yoshi! In fact, looking back at what we've accomplished, I feel that what I wanted was all a silly wish! I soon realized that the fame means little to me now."

"So you're going to give up, too?"

"No way—I'm going to save everyone there, not because I'm in it for the glory, but because _that's my brother there _ and _no one_ does that to him!"

"Sheesh, Luigi, you're just going to win yourself a one-way ticket to your doom!"

Luigi burst into a fit of shocked laughter. "You crack me up, pal! You're starting to develop pessimism!"

"Luigi, while I acknowledge the fact you've developed courage to keep moving on, don't you realize that striving yourself farther even though you can clearly see that you have zero chance of winning is already considered _stupidity_?!"

That last word sank into Luigi's mind. It made him backpedal over everything he'd debated over at Yoshi.

"You can see what we're up against," Yoshi went on, pleased to see that he'd somehow made Luigi see sense. "And I think that, before we come to the point where there's absolutely _no turning back_, we should end this and live our lives peacefully!"

"But what about Mario and the others...?" Luigi choked out.

Yoshi's expression was pained now. "I know, I know, pal—I'll miss them, too. But I'm sure Mario would never ask you to die for him, and neither would Peach and the others. I'm sure it would suffice for them if they knew that you and I were safe, and continuing the rest of our lives. And I'm sure Bowser would cause less havoc now that Mario won't get in his way any longer."

Luigi hesitated, his hand clenched on the strap of his Poltergust, sliding it off just a tiny bit.

"Come on, Luigi, let's go home," Yoshi whispered gently.

_You see, Luigi? Even your friend is starting to see sense! He has just realized the foolishness of the whole thing! Now, why don't you do the same? Do the same thing while you're still alive!_

Luigi pursed his lips, thinking. _Is Yoshi right? But then, that would mean we did this trip for nothing! What's the sense in that?! But still, even I feel like we're not going to make it out of this battle alive..._

Luigi finally took off one of the straps of his Poltergust.

_Yes, yes, Luigi. That's perfect. Now, take off the other strap and put down the Poltergust and, along with all that, all rest of that foolishness._

Luigi now slid down the other strap a tiny bit, about to take it off as well. _Is it really over? Was this all really a waste of time? _

Luigi's mind ran down to everything Yoshi'd said. Of course neither Mario nor Peach would ask him to die for them. But...it was still wrong to give up on rescuing someone who had always been up for saving the day, even if it cost him his peace.

And Bowser? There was no doubt that he wouldn't bother with anyone else, now that he had his nemesis, Mario. And he also had Princess Peach, to top it off. But what guarantee would did he have that Bowser would never do any more evil for good? He'd never promised anything, and he never really fought fair...

Luigi's mind raced further back to those memories with Mario. During the very first time Mario rescued Princess Peach; he'd slaved through endless castles (and fake princesses) to save her.

Then there was the time they worked together as a team. They'd brought down several sinister beings; they'd even teamed up with their past selves to take down a threat from another planet!

But after all that, had Mario ever thought twice the whole time he was off to rescue anyone? Had he ever even _thought_ of giving up?

Luigi gritted his teeth as he knew the answer to that.

_No and never!_

Luigi looked up, putting back the straps of his Poltergust; all the fear and doubt in his face was no more.

_What's this? You're not going to give up? And I thought you're friend has talked sense to you._

"I'm not going to give up on saving everyone else there," Luigi said confidently, no bluff in his voice at all.

_I can't believe you actually want to die. Oh well, you do realize you're alone in all this now, since your friend has given up._

Luigi aimed the nozzle at the voice's direction. "I don't care if Yoshi's going to give up! With or without him, _I'm_ going to rescue _my brother_ and everyone else there and _there's nothing you can do about it_!"

And out of the nozzle came the very same strange light he'd used to stun the Greenies earlier. It flashed at where the voice came from, and he could've sworn he saw a familiar shape among all that flash.

He could also hear the voice groan in pain.

_Aaaaah!_

Suddenly, for a split second the darkness of the room was covered in smoke, but after it all cleared up, Luigi could finally recognize who had been talking and showing those images the entire time.

"King Boo!" Luigi gasped.


	25. Who You Gonna Call?

**CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE:**

**Who You Gonna Call?**

"So it was _you_ who was a-messing with our heads!" Luigi scoffed. "It was a good thing I snapped out of your twisted dark magic and all your illusions!"

King Boo snickered. "Merely a trap to not only get you to quit, but also to get you to _give up altogether_." Then he added with an evil smirk, "But there were no illusions involved—everything you saw before you were real. Your friends are really suffering; you'll really be up against all the forces that are beyond your wildest expectations..."

"And as I've said—I'm going to save them _no matter what_!"

"Still so stubborn. Too bad you snapped out of it at the spur of the moment—the fact your little green friend gave up could've been enough to make you do the very same thing."

"Well, a-too bad Yoshi didn't convince me quite—_Hold on!_ Yoshi!" Luigi searched around for his friend. After all, surely even Yoshi saw that it was all a trick.

"We should've quit, Luigi. Now just look what you got us into...," Yoshi said in a monotone; he spoke as if he were in a trance.

Luigi shook the green dinosaur's shoulders. "Yoshi! What's gotten _into you_?! Snap out of it!"

"Now we're all going to die here and it's all your fault...," Yoshi continued to speak in a trance.

"Oh, _come on_!" Luigi snapped, getting irritated. "What good would giving up do?! And what happened to your positive thinking, pal? You talk as if even _you_ have absolutely _no idea_ what you're saying!"

"We'll all die...," Yoshi continued to chant in a dead tone, his face empty of any emotion.

"Cut it out, dude...," Luigi seethed.

"We should've given up..."

"I'm a-warning you..."

"...all your fault..."

"A-that's _it_!" Luigi threw his hand up and suddenly the one sound that could be heard in the darkness was the sound of a mean slap on the face.

The green plumber's eyes bulged as he saw the shape of his hand etched onto Yoshi's cheek.

Yoshi seemed to react not as if from Luigi's slap, but as if he were pulled out of some strange spell. He blinked twice, then his eyes seemed to have brought him back to where he was right now.

"What...just happened...?" Yoshi asked.

"So...you _didn't_ have any idea what you just a-did within the thirty minutes of us being here?" Luigi gasped in disbelief.

Yoshi shook his head sadly. "No, somewhere in the darkness, somewhere in the middle of all those images being flashed at us, it was like my mind blacked out." Then Yoshi touched the side of his cheek where the shape of Luigi's hand was still etched on. "Ow...did I just get..._slapped_?"

"Uh...," Luigi looked for a way to change the subject. He didn't want to talk about that to Yoshi—most especially since he found out the green dinosaur had actually been in a trance and so he had not remembered a word he'd just said—as well as the fact he needed to keep to himself the irony of the whole slap thing. Just when _he _had been slapped by _Yoshi_ way back at the very beginning when he wanted to give up before he'd even begun the quest, now it was the exact _opposite_.

Luigi shook off the question. "Well, Yoshi, the thing is, everything was all King Boos' doing, and we need to beat him up good for doing something like that!"

"That's what we were here for?"

Luigi nodded. "He wanted to make sure that we give up on this quest to rescue Mario and the others once and for all. You"—he stuttered reluctantly—"were under a spell to make you all depressed and give up—and you almost convinced me to do the same, you know—while I, on the other hand, a-didn't want to give up on what we a-started—especially after _everything_ we've been through—so I gathered enough guts to...Well, actually, I had no idea what I was a-doing, I sort of flashed the light at the weirdo talking in the darkness. And it was a good thing, though, because all this time he turned out to be _King Boo_!"

"The whole time it was King Boo who was messing with our heads?" Yoshi said in a disbelieving tone.

"You better believe it, pal."

"I can't believe I actually fell for that trap!"

"It's a-not _completely_ your fault, Yoshi. It was mostly King Boo who put you in a trance to say all that giving up rubbish."

Yoshi squared his shoulders. "Well, I'm going to get him for _messing with my head like that_!"

Luigi jumped a little—he hadn't expected to hear his friend sound so furious before.

King Boo guffawed. "Okay, I can clearly see that you two are determined to fight. But let's see how long you'll last." And with that, he raised his arms, and the dim lights from earlier went back on.

Luigi and Yoshi looked around to see hundreds (or more) ghosts surrounding them.

"How'd _that_ even happen?!" Luigi gasped.

"I'm pretty sure we can take them—you've done that before and now we can do—" Yoshi looked around, finding nothing else but the things in the room and ghosts.

"Uh, Yoshi, what's wrong?"

Yoshi looked at the green plumber with a pained expression. _"Where'd my Poltergust go?!"_


	26. Putting an End to the Ghosting Hour

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:**

**Putting an End to the Ghosting Hour**

"Huh?" Luigi frowned while flashing the lights on some approaching ghosts. "I think you put it down when you were mumbling all that giving up mumbo-jumbo."

"I didn't throw it, did I?" Yoshi asked desperately.

"Not that I remember. The only thing I saw—despite the fact it was pitch black, though when those images were flashed it seemed to lighten up the room a bit—was that you took it off and put it down. After that, I can't recall if you ever did anything else to it."

"Looking for this?" King Boo laughed. The two looked up to see Yoshi's Poltergust floating away from arm's reach, and kept locked up in a mini vault.

"Why you—" Yoshi was out of a bad enough word to cuss at King Boo for what he'd done.

"The key is hidden within any of these ghosts," King Boo said, obviously enjoying Yoshi's moment of inconvenience. "Beat these ghosts, and _maybe_ you'll be able to find the key for that precious vacuum. But I _doubt_ you'll be able to last long with all these ghosts."

"Don't think you're at ease with that, King Boo," Luigi said. "In case you forget, there's still me!"

"Oh, of course I haven't forgotten you—I'm practically _trembling_ with fear!" King Boo said in a mocking tone.

Luigi armed the nozzle of his Poltergust, ready to take on the multitude of ghosts King Boo had conjured in the room. "I've beaten up these ectoplasmic scums, and _I can do it again_!"

"I'll fight, too!" Yoshi chimed in. "I mean, just because I don't have my Poltergust doesn't mean I won't be able to help beat these guys up!"

The entire room was filled with King Boo's mocking laughter. Then he said in a loud voice, "Okay, my underlings! Show _no mercy_! Finish up these fools! Let them regret they ever bothered setting foot in this mansion!"

"Hoo-boy," Luigi breathed. "Something a-tells me we crossed the line _big time_."

Upon King Boo's command, the multitude of ghosts flew toward the duo, off to attack.

"Hoo-hah!" Luigi exulted. He flashed the strange light that could stun flashlight-immune ghosts and, quickly as soon as they were stunned, he switched to the vacuum function and sucked the handful of ghosts in. Not including the many ghosts left he needed to bust, Luigi almost felt that it was getting a bit easy—after all, he'd specialized in this field.

Now if only this would be easy to Yoshi as well.

Yoshi was having a tough time beating up the ghosts as it was. He couldn't really take them in using his tongue (most of it was because they could just phase right through him) and even if he could, he couldn't really eat them at all.

Yoshi shook his head with exasperation—he really needed his Poltergust right now.

"I'm sorry, Luigi," Yoshi apologized, feeling disgusted and useless. "I can't do much help in this situation without my Poltergust!"

"I'm sorry, too, pal," Luigi sighed as he took down eleven more ghosts that were charging at him.

"How are we _ever_ going to be able to get through this?!" Yoshi complained.

"I don't know—it's a-like the more we take down, the more they come!"

"Add to that the fact it's technically only _you_ who can do something about it!"

"We need to think of a way to be able to stun these ghosts quick _without_ furthering exhausting ourselves! Gah—why is it _so hard_?!" Luigi threw his head up in pure disgust and irritation.

It was then that he noticed something.

"Huh, I wonder if that will work...," Luigi said to himself, then he decided, "Well, it's better than nothing else."

"Look, I know you're having fun there with the ceiling, but _please_, Luigi! More ghosts are still coming even if you're _not_ getting rid of them!" Yoshi snapped, disbelieved to see Luigi staring off at the ceiling.

"Yoshi, I've got an idea."

"Whoa, you got an idea after staring off at a ceiling?"

"It doesn't matter now. Listen—you're not a-going to like the first part of this. I'm a-going to try to suck you in with my Poltergust—"

"You're right—I don't like it already."

"Don't a-worry, pal, it gets better—see that?" Luigi pointed over at a suspended light bulb, in danger of falling off soon—it was tacked onto the ceiling with a series of loose and worn-out screws. "I'll a-make sure to blow you up high until you get within arm's reach of that light bulb, then as soon as you _are_ within arm's reach of it, you're going to have to grab it."

"What will you need a light bulb for? Ordinary light doesn't work against these kinds of ghosts anymore, remember?"

"Oh, I'm sure you'll find out. For now, just trust me on this one, buddy."

Yoshi shook his head and sighed. "What crazy idea could you _possibly_ be coming up with _now_?"

"Ready?"

Yoshi braced himself. "Ready for whatever you've got, pal."

"Okay, here we go!" And with that, Luigi activated the vacuum function of his Poltergust and sucked Yoshi up to the nozzle (deliberately sending the attacking ghosts—and even King Boo—scratching their heads in confusion) and, with a heavy grunt, he aimed the nozzle—with Yoshi sucked onto it—at the ceiling where the light bulb was, and triggered the "blow" function of the vacuum.

And Yoshi ricocheted up to the sky.

"Whoa!" Yoshi screamed at the speed of his vacuum-style flight. It felt three times faster than the warp cannons he and Luigi had used.

"Hey, what the heck—!" King Boo said in a mixture of shock, irritation and confusion as Yoshi sped past him.

"And...I've got it...," Yoshi said as he strained to reach the light bulb and rip it off the ceiling.

"..or not!" Yoshi gulped as his hand missed it off an inch and now he could feel himself falling.

"_No!"_ Luigi moaned.

King Boo just got more confused.

"No—I've _really_ got this!" Yoshi's left hand clung to the very tip of King Boo's crown.

"Why, you squirming—! _Let go of my crown!_" King Boo hissed.

"Not until I get what I want!" Yoshi objected in a huff as he used his other hand to grab on as well and climb off, then, before King Boo could shake him off, he finally propelled himself toward the light bulb and made his way down, gliding along the bookshelves and furniture as he did.

"What's your _problem_?!" King Boo snarled.

"Thanks, pal," Luigi said as the green dinosaur handed the light bulb over to him; both of them ignored King Boo's snarling complaints. Luigi examined it. "Just as I thought—it a-may be worn out, but it still a-works just fine."

"What are your plans for that, Luigi?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure it'll make busting all these ghosts a thousand times easier!" Luigi held out the nozzle of his Poltergust and, switched the lens used for the flashlight with the light bulb.

Yoshi gave Luigi an odd look.

"Just watch this," Luigi said confidently, patting the light bulb-attached nozzle of his Poltergust 5000.

Luigi once again activated the same strange light emitted to stun flashlight-immune ghosts. There was no difference in the kind of light. But there _was_ a difference in the area being covered by the light.

For, instead of just shooting a ray of light, as with an ordinary flashlight, it now seemed to cover up the _entire room_, as with an ordinary room light bulb.

Luigi and Yoshi strained not to cover their ears with the combined wails of the thousands and thousands of stunned ghosts.

"Impossible!" King Boo scoffed as he himself was weakened, if not stunned, by the light.

"Amazing, Luigi," Yoshi gasped. "What an amazing idea!"

"Now it'll be easier to end all this," Luigi said, mightily pleased. He once switched back the light bulb with lens of his Poltergust (since, when he'd just tried to activate the vacuum function, it couldn't work since the nozzle didn't seem to recognize the lens used) and, again, activated the vacuum function. With that, he spun around while the electrified whirlwind went on, sucking in countless ghosts as he did. Somewhere within the flurry of the wind and the sparks, he saw something glitter off the room.

Now it seemed as if, except for King Boo, the dimly-lit room was empty of ghosts.

"There's the key," Yoshi said in delight. He ran toward it, picked it up and went off to unlock it from the padlocked vault. With a _click_, it opened, and inside was just as Yoshi had expected—his Poltergust.

"Yes," Yoshi hissed with joy as he strapped it on and, unable to help himself, he played with the nozzle. "By the way, nice idea—you know, the light bulb thing."

"Thanks, buddy. I figured since light bulbs have the ability to light up a whole room, it a-could work the same way with the Poltergust's light as well."

"Well, it did. Gosh, Luigi, you can be _really_ observant when you need to."

"Now we can bust these ghosts together," Luigi said, then added with a chuckle, "But too bad it seems there are next to no ghosts around—"

_Don't be so sure,_ King Boo's voice echoed in a hiss. _You may have beaten my underlings but you still haven't beaten ME!_

The duo looked around for King Boo. Even with the dim lights of the room, it was clear that King Boo was nowhere to be found.

"Now where'd he go?!" Luigi wondered.


	27. Aiming for the Checkmate

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN:**

**Aiming for the Checkmate**

Luigi looked around the room. Back and forth—twice, thrice and deliberately.

But it was still the same—King Boo was nowhere to be found.

"Come out, you hell of a con artist!" Luigi seethed as he looked around. He felt ridiculous with the fact that the lack of response made him feel as if he were talking to himself, but it couldn't be helped—King Boo was a total no-show at the moment.

"_Now_ you're going to chicken out of this fight, King Boo?" Yoshi said among the walls, pretty sure that even though he'd likely get no response at all, there was no doubt King Boo was listening to their complaints. "You conjured up a multitude of ghosts to do _your_ bidding yet _you_ yourself can't even man up and fight—"

Yoshi's sentence was cut short when something slashed at him from behind.

"Ugh, what was that all about?!" Yoshi complained, slowly working his way up from the blow that hit him and knocked him to the floor. "That was some force that hit pinned me."

"Must've been King Boo," Luigi muttered. Then he looked straight. "The problem is...I didn't see anything hit you, Yoshi. It was like you fell down on your own. In fact, if you a-hadn't said out loud that there was some force that hit you, I would've thought that you tripped over something and fell."

"I don't suppose...?" Yoshi began, then he looked around to _really_ check if King Boo had suddenly showed up—but there was no one else in the room but the two of them.

"What are you thinking right now, Yoshi?" Luigi asked.

"You think the King Boo can...?"

"Yes...?"

Suddenly, before Yoshi could continue, Luigi was somehow lifted off the floor and tossed across the room until he hit smack dab onto the wall.

"Ugh, that _hurts_!" Luigi hissed in pain.

"_I knew it!"_ Yoshi gasped.

"_What_ did you know?!" Luigi prompted.

"King Boo _isn't_ gone—he's _here_! He's just _invisible_!"

"_What?!"_

Hissing, broken laughter echoed within the room; Luigi and Yoshi took that as a confirmation to the latter's statement.

"I'll a-take that as a 'yes,' " Luigi said, standing up.

_You think you can beat me?!_ King Boo's voice filled the room with its harshness and jeers. _You think you can be able to take me down? Me—the King of all Boos? You can't even _see_ me!_

"Oh, we will, you heck of a ghostly scum!" Luigi yelled at King Boo with his fist raised.

_Well, I suggest you two should _try _to look for me. Otherwise..._

And with that, another blow struck both Luigi and Yoshi to the floor. Sneering laughter followed after that.

_...expect to get defeated before you two even know it._

"Jeez, he sure is trying to rub it in," Luigi cussed. He tried flashing lights in random places so he _might_ be able to hit King Boo.

But, unfortunately, there was no scream of pain, no groan at the very least.

"Luigi," Yoshi said suddenly. "Why don't you use that very same light bulb that you used to stun all the ghosts in the entire room? I'm sure that'll also work on being able to stun King Boo, right?"

Luigi palmed his forehead. "Ah, you're a-right about that, pal!" He scouted for the light bulb he'd used...

...but all he found was a shattered mess of glass at the very spot were the light bulb used to be.

"What?! _No!_" Luigi screeched in terror. "King Boo destroyed the light bulb!" And, by doing that, the Boo Boss had just gotten several steps ahead of them.

Yoshi sighed. "_Now_ what?!"

_No cheating, you ghost-busting scums!_

"_You're_ cheating, you heck of a fiend!" Luigi protested.

More blows swiped at Luigi in response, nearly knocking him down again.

"Don't think you've won just because you destroyed the light bulb," Luigi shouted. "I've beaten ghosts without that light bulb, and _I can do it again_!"

_I'd like to see you try..._

Luigi narrowed his eyes at the wall. Pretty sure that, without the help of the light bulb, there would be a more difficult time taking King Boo down, even though he was only the one ghost.

"There _needs_ to be a way to take down King Boo, no matter if he's invisible...," Luigi pondered.

Luigi stared at the lens of his Poltergust nozzle. Then he looked around the room.

Finally, he found something—not what he wanted, but what he needed to be able to _somehow_ get the job done.

"Yoshi," Luigi called to his friend. "Activate the flashlight function of your Poltergust...and do _exactly_ what I'm doing right now!"

Yoshi was confused, yet he did what the green plumber told him to do. With the press of a button, he activated the regular flashlight function.

"Okay, now what?" Yoshi asked.

"Let's aim the lights at the broken shards of the light bulb glass!"

The duo quickly moved directed the flashlights' ray of light toward the shards of the light bulb King Boo had broken; in return the shards sent out millions of little rays of the same light all over the room.

Luigi looked all over the place for even the tiniest hint that could give King Boo away...and he found it.

"There! I see it!" Luigi shouted upon seeing the bit of shadow that was a partial shape of King Boo, which was all thanks to the lights.

"_Now—let's a-flash that stun light!" _Luigi commanded, quickly switching the function of his Poltergust nozzle from ordinary flashlight to the one that gave the strange kind of light that was capable of stunning the flashlight-immune ghosts. He immediately directed it toward where King Boo's shadow was and, soon, all he heard was King Boo's deafening shriek of pain.

"Got you," Luigi hissed with joy, somehow enjoying King Boo's discomfort in a very petulant way.

King Boo was able to finally appear before the duo, his eyes squeezed shut; he was writhing in agony.

When King Boo finally opened his eyes, he saw two vacuum nozzles directed at him left and right.

"You've got nowhere to hide, King Boo," Luigi said.

"We're gonna get you in either of these Poltergusts once and for all," Yoshi added.

King Boo didn't flinch the least bit; instead he gave a dark smile.

"You two sure make a great team, huh? Well, you've always been _so_ goddamn good at fighting _together_—but let's see if you'll be able to handle fighting _each other_!"

And with that, King Boo shot a dirty look at Yoshi.

Luigi's eyes widened as he put together King Boo's words and actions.

"_No!"_ Luigi screamed, but it was too late. With a movement so fast it was only a flash of white, King Boo slammed toward Yoshi, and the green dinosaur was enveloped in a white whirlwind.

"_Yoshi!"_ Luigi shouted for his friend.

"Luigi," Yoshi choked with shock. "I don't know what's happening to—" And his words were cut short by King Boo's laughter.

Finally the whirlwind subsided and vanished, and there was Yoshi, standing, with his head bent down.

Luigi took small steps toward his friend. "Yoshi...?"

Yoshi looked up, but immediately Luigi knew it wasn't him. The bright features and expressions the green dinosaur had were erased from his face; all were replaced by the dark eyes and evil smiles that belonged to King Boo.

Luigi staggered back at the horror of what King Boo had done.

Yoshi, smiling a sinister smile, began to speak with a voice that one-hundred percent belonged to King Boo.

"You ready to take on your own friend, Luigi?"


	28. Ghost in You

**CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:**

**Ghost in You**

"Get out of Yoshi's body, you kingly pain in the butt!" Luigi hissed.

Yoshi (or rather, King Boo inside Yoshi's body) laughed. "Defeat me, and you'll be _sure_ to get him back." The possessed Yoshi leveled an evil look at the green plumber. "But I wonder...can you defeat your own friend in the process?"

Luigi aimed the nozzle of his Poltergust at Yoshi—feeling uncomfortable as he did so; he couldn't imagine the thought of kicking the butt of the very person who kicked bad guy butt with him.

_Calm down,_ Luigi said to himself, _after all, it's not like that's _really_ Yoshi, right? Deep inside him, that's King Boo. So don't feel too bad about beating him up. Seeing yourself beat Yoshi up while knowing it's actually King Boo possessing him is a wholly different thing compared to what you really think it actually might be._

Luigi backpedalled over the words he'd just thought of. _Was _it different?

"You better act fast, you numbskull," King Boo said, as, using Yoshi's body under his possession, he began to take a swipe at the green plumber. "Act fast or else your own friend just might bring an end to you!"

"No, he won't," Luigi objected as he nimbly evaded the swipes aimed at him. It would've been simpler for him to be able to fight back—after all, it wasn't really Yoshi who was attacking him—but it still felt...wrong.

Luigi could barely have that on his conscience.

_But I can't just dodge forever, _Luigi thought. If Yoshi (or rather, if _King Boo_) kept attacking and if the former would only keep on dodging out of fear of beating up his own friend, either one would end up getting exhausted and no one would win in that battle.

Plus, Luigi added, he was pretty sure that King Boo had other tricks up his sleeve other than just taking on him with simple attacks.

"I guess I thought too soon!" Luigi gasped as King Boo rammed toward him with Yoshi's fist.

"Dodging my attacks isn't going to help you get your friend back, coward!" King Boo laughed. "Why don't you fight back like a man?"

"I'll fight back, but I won't a-do it on Yoshi's expense!" Luigi bellowed.

"Whose expense then, might you ask me?" King Boo taunted, knowing that leading Luigi on would soon enrage him enough to make the latter take a swing at him. "How about any one of those Toads there held captive? Are they enough to substitute as my host in the place of your dear dinosaur friend?"

Luigi started as he realized what King Boo was getting onto.

"Or how about that fine lady your brother dearest loves so much?" King Boo continued as if blind to Luigi's reaction. "After all, she always had her eyes set on him; would you fight a woman?"

Luigi gritted his teeth. His hands were starting to ball up into tight fists.

"What about your brother dearest himself?" King Boo suggested with a sneer on Yoshi's face. "You were always under his shadow—everything about you goes to him—so how about I do you a favor and end him for you? And that way you can claim his spotlight _all to yourself_!"

Hearing his brother's name goaded Luigi enough to set his temper ablaze. His nostrils flared, and with his clenched fists, he rammed toward King Boo with fury all over his mind.

"_Luigi, help!" _

Though he was still feeling pissed off, hearing Yoshi's voice was enough for Luigi to stop in his tracks. He was just inches close to King Boo, and his fist was barely a thumb away from Yoshi's face, but it surprised him to hear the green dinosaur's voice instead of King Boo's.

Luigi looked at Yoshi's face with a shocked expression. For once, Yoshi didn't have the bitterness and sneering features that belonged to King Boo—his face was set with a pained expression which was doubled with struggle.

"Luigi...," Yoshi gasped with his _real_ voice; he looked like he was struggling. "Luigi...don't let...King Boo...trick...you...with me..." He gasped and said more strained words that were barely complete due to the fact he was being possessed by King Boo. "Fight him...it's...only way...defeat him...Hit..._ME_!"

Then Yoshi screamed, and when his eyes opened, he could see that King Boo's expressions were back on his friend's face.

"Your friend's pretty strong—for a moment I thought I was going to lose control of him, and that he'd be able to throw me off his body completely. Well," King Boo laughed, "thank goodness I'm a lot _stronger_."

And with that, King Boo sent a massive blow at Luigi's gut, strong enough to have the plumber going down on his knees.

"So it comes to this, 'my friend'?" King Boo guffawed. "So you're down on your knees, refusing to fight back against your own friend!"

Luigi stayed down, hand on his gut area. He mumbled a low stream of words that King Boo couldn't hear. Part of his mind drifted toward what Yoshi had said during the brief time he managed to overpower King Boo.

_Don't let King Boo trick you with me..._

_Fight him..._

_Defeat him..._

_Hit ME!_

"I'm pitting all my hopes on what you told me, pal," Luigi whispered almost inaudibly. He knew that, despite the fact King Boo had overpowered him in his own body, Yoshi'd been able to think of a plan.

And all that was left was for Luigi to carry it out.

"Stand up and fight, plumber!" King Boo laughed.

"And I will," Luigi replied in a very low voice. "This is for you."

"What was that?" King Boo grinned a twisted sneer and bent toward Luigi. "I can't hear you!"

Luigi slowly moved his head upward to face King Boo. "I said..._THIS IS FOR YOU, YOSHI!_" And with a move so fast and unexpected that King Boo couldn't have even made a guess about it, Luigi launched a massive blow at Yoshi's head.

"Aaaargh!" King Boo screamed in pain.

"Luigi..." The plumber could hear Yoshi's voice again, as he was able to overpower King Boo yet the second time. "You did a good job...King Boo's...trying to...find a way...to push me out...of my own body completely!"

"Don't give up, pal!" Luigi wanted to shout all the advice he could while he was still talking to Yoshi. "That's _your_ body, right? Show him who'd boss!"

"I'd...appreciate...some help...but...he's...too strong..."

"Hold on, pal!" Luigi urged. "Keep yourself in your own body! Don't let King Boo push you out! Push _him_ out! You can do it!"

"I'm...," Yoshi gasped, "...trying..."

Another scream escaped Yoshi's mouth, and Luigi knew that King Boo had managed to regain control of the green dinosaur's body yet again.

King Boo snickered. "Did you really think punching me on the head will get you your friend back?"

"I thought not—I was hoping it was enough to knock some sense into you!" Luigi fired back.

"Well," King Boo said as, this time, he launched a kick at Luigi, which, thankfully, the latter managed to dodge, "you're going to have to think _harder_."

Luigi dodged King Boo's attacks, but he knew he needed a plan to get him out.

For a moment, he looked at the nozzle of his Poltergust. For sure King Boo wouldn't be affected by its light since he was in Yoshi's body, but would it be enough to at least distract him enough for his dinosaur buddy to regain the control he needed to get King Boo out?

That seemed the only option that would suffice for now.

"Give me your best shot, King Boo," Luigi taunted, hoping for King Boo to approach closer to him.

"Aw, and that would seem unfair of me to do it," King Boo said sarcastically. "You barely gave _your_ all and now _you_ want _me_ to go all out on you?!"

"You chickening out, Boo boss?"

"Certainly _not_—but it would be really entertaining to see you squirm some more."

Luigi's lips twitched. "We'll see about that."

"Say your prayers, punk!" And King Boo rammed at Luigi with his fist extended, ready to give another devastating blow to Luigi's gut.

_A little closer,_ Luigi said to himself as he waited until King Boo was close enough for him to directly shine the Poltergust strobe light at him.

"And...HERE!" Luigi shouted, activating the strobe light function that managed to stun flashlight-immune ghosts; he shot it straight at Yoshi's face.

"What the—?" King Boo hissed as the bright strobe light flashed at his face. He was left momentarily blind from the sudden assault.

"Yoshi," Luigi called at his pal, hoping he can take advantage of King Boo's stunned moment and be able to gain enough strength to overpower the Boo boss once and for all. "Yoshi, quick! I hope you can hear me! _Now!_ While King Boo's still stunned—overpower him! Throw him off!"

"Graaaaaaah!" King Boo screeched.

Luigi crossed his fingers and hoped that King Boo's moment of discomfort meant that Yoshi heard him and was trying to do as he said.

The next few movements coming from Yoshi's body was just too gruesome to see; it made Luigi want to throw up.

Yoshi bent his body in an arch, then he fell off to the floor. He writhed and twitched as a handful of screams came in between.

For Luigi, it was like watching an exorcism scene performed live in front of him. He tried his best to hold on to his stomach's reaction to prevent from throwing up a collection of meals he'd eaten so far.

Yoshi then mumbled a string of barely audible words.

"Yoshi...?" Luigi whispered, inching a bit closer.

Yoshi seemed to be whispering in response as he still continued to writhe and twitch on the floor.

"What is it?" Luigi asked, with a bit of doubt; he wasn't sure whether it was King Boo or Yoshi responding to him.

Yoshi's hand flashed to grab at Luigi's neck.

Luigi choked at the tight grip of the green dinosaur.

"Get ready to see your life flash before your eyes, pal," King Boo seethed, the hand still gripping tightly to Luigi's neck, still choking him.

Luigi closed his eyes. Was this _really_ the end? But if it _were_, there were no flashes of his life, not even a glimpse of his baby days. Maybe it was better that way; maybe it was a _good_ thing. Better to _not_ remember.

"Ready?" King Boo asked in a very bitter tone. "Because I'm going to..._Get the hell out of my body!_"

Luigi's eyes flashed open, not because the grip on his neck came loose—in fact, it felt like Yoshi's hand was just caressing his neck for all he felt—but because he heard Yoshi's shout cut in King Boo's sentence.

"Pal?" Luigi wondered.

Yoshi's hand let go of Luigi; the green plumber fell down on his butt.

Yoshi shook and writhed around, like he was doing some sort of twisted dance number. There were some cusses coming from his mouth, and some hisses as well.

"Get...the _fuck_...out of my...freaking BODY!" Yoshi roared.

Luigi flinched.

Then the oddest thing happened.

Yoshi threw his head up and opened his mouth wide, and out of it came a strange white light that was both very bright and very creepy. When his eyes opened, they were as white as a sheet.

Seconds passed, then the light coming out of Yoshi's mouth was gone, and he fainted.

Luigi stood frozen for a while, then he debated whether to go near Yoshi and check on him. After all, was if it was a trap? What if when he would approach Yoshi, he'd end up getting beaten up by King Boo?

Luigi toyed with his options for a few minutes, then, after seeing that Yoshi had not moved even a bit, he decided to (again!) check out on him.

"Hey, uh," Luigi mumbled, approaching Yoshi but being completely cautious the whole time. "Yoshi...or is it King Boo?"

Still no response of any sort.

"O_kay_...," Luigi said. He kept walking until he was right in front of Yoshi's body. "Is that you, King Boo? Because if it's a 'yes,' then...I'm afraid I'm a-going to smack you for real this time."

Yoshi finally moved. Luigi braced himself this time; King Boo might suddenly attack. The plumber held on to his Poltergust nozzle, ready to activate the strobe light for...maybe to do what he'd just done earlier.

Yoshi blinked, then fully opened his eyes.

"Luigi?" Yoshi mumbled, the voice really belonging to him.

Luigi still didn't relax. "Yeah, pal?"

"I think...King Boo's gone...," Yoshi whispered.

"Huh?"

"_Hold it _right_ there, you bunch of pricks!"_

Both Luigi and Yoshi blanched at the sound of King Boo's voice (though Luigi was relieved that, this time, it didn't come from Yoshi). They both turned to where the voice came from and were surprised to see King Boo charging at them.

"Oh, no, not _this _time," Yoshi growled as he grabbed the his Poltergust and, just in time before King Boo might take a second shot on possessing him (or worse, Luigi), he activated the strobe light mode and sent King Boo screaming in pain.

"That's what you get for using my body, you ghostly piece of SHIT!" Yoshi shouted, clearly exasperated by what King Boo had done to him.

"Now it's a-my turn," Luigi said. Just like old times, when he was ready to end it, he activated the famous vacuum function of his Poltergust 5000 and, with the same electrified whirlwind emanating out of it, King Boo, still stunned, was sucked into it.

"Damn you!" King Boo yelled as he was slowly being sucked into Luigi's Poltergust. _"Damn you ALL!"_

"This is for nearly choking me to death," was all Luigi said in response.

King Boo did nothing but scream the whole time he was being sucked in, and finally it was cut off as he was finally trapped inside for good.

Though sucking in ghosts didn't require that much muscle, both Luigi and Yoshi were panting out of exhaustion.

"It's done," Yoshi breathed.

"Yes," Luigi exhaled sharply. "It's _finally_ done!"


	29. The Key Jewel

**CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE:**

**The Key Jewel**

"Ha! In your freaking FACE, King Boo!" Luigi huffed and shouted, just because he felt like it.

Yoshi laughed with him.

"I think our job here is done, don't you think so, pal?" Luigi elbowed the green dinosaur playfully.

Yoshi's expression suddenly turned unhappy.

"What's wrong, Yoshi?"

"_W-ell_, I'm just wondering—we were able to beat King Boo and all, but..."

"But what...?"

"That's it?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I meant to say was, nothing happened after that? We were just here to beat ghosts—nothing was left to help us defeat Bowser? No next clue, no riddles at _all_?"

Luigi frowned. "Come to think of it...you're right. What was the point of coming here, if we wouldn't be getting any more clues?"

Yoshi just shrugged.

It was then that Luigi noticed something shining on the dimly-lit background.

"Huh?" Luigi wondered as he tried to go near the shining object to inspect closer.

"Where are you going, Luigi?"

"I...," was all Luigi said. Finally, he was right in front of what seemed to be a jewel of some sort.

"What's that, Luigi?" Yoshi asked as he went beside the green plumber.

"I...don't think I remember this jewel being here on the first place."

"Well, I could hardly notice anything what with all the ghosts, the fact I was under a spell, and the fact I was"—Yoshi grimaced—"possessed by King Boo, but to answer you, no, I don't remember seeing that gem either."

"Think it was King Boo's gem?"

"I dunno. Looks like it, though. I'm a-sure there were an awful lot of jewels in his crown, so..."

"I think we should take it to Professor , just to be sure," Yoshi suggested.

"Why not? I'm pretty sure we were able to get rid of as much ghosts as we did, and it's a lot safer here now that King Boo's gone."

* * *

"Okay, I see that you're done. What can I do for you boys?" Professor asked.

"You think you can decipher that meaning behind this gem?" Luigi asked, holding out the piece of jewel that they'd found back in the mansion.

"Where'd you get it?" Professor asked.

"In the mansion, just after we were able to kick King Boo's butt," Yoshi answered.

Professor narrowed his eyes. Then he took the gem from Luigi and examined it carefully. "It's...King Boo's gem!"

"So I've suspected," Luigi said. "But...what do you think? Is there a concrete reason behind it? Why did it get left behind? Will it help us rescue our captured pals?"

"I can't tell for sure," the Professor said. "But I think I can have this scanned on my supercomputer, and maybe I'll be able to gather the data I need to answer your question, son."

Luigi nodded. "Okay, let it be done, Professor."

Professor opened a metallic box that neither Luigi nor Yoshi noticed before that was connected to the supercomputer. He put the gem inside the box, closed it, and pressed a series of buttons on the keyboard of the supercomputer. The massive screen glowed at a different color, and loads of images and complex words came popped out onto the screen, too fast for neither Luigi nor Yoshi to understand.

But Professor looked like he could understand whatever was flashing at the monitor; he squinted his eyes and nodded to himself every now and then.

After a while, Professor finally shut it down, and took King Boo's gem out of the metallic box.

"Uh, Professor...What were you able to find out?" Luigi asked.

The Professor held it out to Luigi—which the plumber took—and explained, "The data gathered indicates that King Boo's gem can be used to unlock Bowser's gates."

Yoshi widened his eyes.

Luigi gasped. "What the—? Seriously, Prof?!"

"Of course. One of the most noticeable codes I witnessed at the process of data extraction was 'Go back to the place where you first found out where to start your quest, and watch as all defenses shut down,' " the Professor said matter-of-factly.

"Hear that, Yoshi?" Luigi said to Yoshi, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "We've finally found a way to get pass Bowser's new security system! It won't be long before Mario and everyone else are free!"

"That's great! But...how will this gem be used?" Yoshi turned to the Professor.

"_That_ I don't know, child—nothing was mentioned among the codes," Professor said.

Luigi frowned. "Well, at least we a-know that this gem will be useful _somewhat_. That sure a-beats knowing we'd gone here for nothing." And he put the gem in his overalls pocket.

"Okay, let's go back to Bowser's Castle," Yoshi said.

"Yeah, but...I feel like it's gonna be a long way back," Luigi sighed.

"Warp zones," Yoshi reminded.

"Oh, that's right." Luigi then turned to Professor . "Well, in that case, our job here in the mansion is done. So we won't be needing a-these anymore." He strapped off his Poltergust 5000.

"Same here," Yoshi said as he strapped of his Yoshi-fied Poltergust as well. He stroked the nozzle. "Boy, I'm sure gonna miss these babies."

"You could take my place when _Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon_ goes out," Luigi suggested.

Yoshi laughed. "Thanks...but no thanks."

"Be seeing you, Professor?" Luigi said as he waved goodbye.

"Thanks for the job well done, boys," the Professor said as he waved as well.

"I had a good time busting ghosts," Yoshi laughed, waving at the Professor as he, together with Luigi, made their departure.

And they were out.


	30. Breaching the Defenses

**CHAPTER THIRTY:**

**Breaching the Defenses**

_In Bowser's Castle:_

"Sir," one of the Hammer Bro soldiers said, "our resources have gathered that King Boo, who bears the key, is gone."

"_Gone?! _Dafuq, what do you mean, 'gone'?" Bowser roared in rage. He didn't like what he'd just heard.

The Hammer Bro soldier tripped back a few steps. "Uh, what I meant to say was...Your Highness, according to our Parakoopa troops, they have given us intelligence that King Boo is no longer where he is."

"Well, where _is_ he?"

"He's not around...It's as if...he's really gone, like he's dead?"

"_Who_ could've done that?!"

"I don't know for sure, Your Highness..."

"Dumb fuck, you _should_ know!" Bowser snapped.

"It's quite...unclear, Sir. The reception was all messed up—"

"_You're_ the one who'll get messed up if you goddamn don't figure it out!"

"Something messed up the reception—or rather, _someone_ did. Apparently King Boo wasn't the only one around in the mansion when he was last there. Whatever he did, he jammed it up—his activity got in the way of our contact with King Boo."

"And I don't suppose you _know_...?" Bowser was getting pretty impatient now.

"Well, we tried to bring the recorded samples of the jammed reception to our Koopa Intelligence Resources, and upon converting the scraps of messed up soundwaves, it would appear that what showed up on the monitor screen was...a vacuum-shaped backpack, a green tail and a hat."

Bowser, who'd been wanting to go on a rampage on the Hammer Bro, suddenly fell into stunned silence. He pondered over the three clues that were deciphered by the KIR. Vacuum-shaped backpack...green tail...hat...

Bowser stood up with a disgruntled expression. "It's them."

"Pardon, Sir?"

"The green twosome! The pipsqueak's brother and his pet lizard."

"Were you referring to..._Luigi and Yoshi_...?"

"Duh, who else! How else do you think they weren't around when we ambushed Peach's Castle?! Did you think they were off to a likely coincidence on a vacation?!"

The Hammer Bro flinched.

"They weren't around when we ambushed Mario and the rest of them. But those two—they were probably around to know it happened, but odds are they'd gone to hiding. Huh—those two are lucky to have escaped my clutches, but _not for long_."

"They probably got the key already," the Hammer Bro said.

"Well, they better not think that just because they can hack their way into my castle it means rescuing their little pals will be a total cakewalk! In fact"—Bowser cocked his head to the side and laughed evilly—"I'll make them come to feel that coming here was the _biggest mistake _of their lives!"

"So what do we do now, Sir...?"

"It's gonna be a slight change of plans on this one—alert the troops—the Koopas, Parakoopas, everyone! We'll give those two the welcome wagon they'll _never forget_!"

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

_Just outside Bowser's Castle:_

"Thank my very lucky stars I didn't get sick _this _time," Luigi said as, with the help of the ever-reliable warp zones, they managed to arrive at Bowser's Castle faster than it takes for Yoshi to lay an egg.

"Hey, it's an improvement," Yoshi said. "Plus, you didn't bump into anything when you landed."

"That was just for the sake of not complaining the entire trip, pal."

"_You _would know."

"Hardy har har—anyway, so we're in front of Bowser's Castle, blah, blah, blah. And we got the gem a-needed to break Bowser's new security system, good. But then, what? _How _are we gonna use it to get ourselves in?"

"Have you tried the statues?" Yoshi asked. "I mean, that's where we found the clues; I'm sure that's how we'll use the gem."

"Let's try it out." Luigi looked at the two Bowser statues that where on either side of the door.

"Well?" Yoshi prompted.

Luigi turned to the green dinosaur with a wry smile. "I...don't know how we'll use it."

"Let me try," Yoshi said as he took the gem from Luigi and tried to place it inside the mouth of one of the statues.

But nothing happened.

"_That's_ just great," Luigi grunted.

"Maybe it's not in the proper position?" Yoshi guessed.

"You know what, Yoshi? I'm a-starting to think that maybe this gem isn't what we've been looking for."

"What are you talking about, Luigi?! Professor scanned it himself and even _he_ said that the codes claim King Boo's gem is the key!"

"Yeah, I know, but...Do you seriously expect us to be able to actually _use _this thingus to get ourselves past the security and in this place?"

"I know the answer is somewhere around here—maybe we just need to figure it out."

"Like another riddle, huh, Yoshi?"

"Yep, _exactly_ like that."

"Two statues, one gem..."

"How will we use this to get ourselves in...?"

"You think, by chance, this has something to do with all the other creatures we faced?" Luigi asked suddenly.

Yoshi frowned. "I don't think so...This came from King Boo—I mean, this _is_ his gem...I don't _think _ there could be a possible connection with the others."

"Well, I was just thinking...when we defeated the soil-monster thing with the key-eyes, there was a clue that led us to Lakithunder, then _he_ left out a clue that led us to the mansion to battle King Boo, and _he_ left us with a gem to lead us back here," Luigi stated.

"Okay, so maybe they _are_ all connected, but...is there a way for _that_ to help us out here?"

"There has to be. I mean, this whole time King Boo had the key. We could've just gone directly to him, yet we got through all the motions with a-heading to Yoshi's Island and to World Seven just to lead us to the mansion. In short, before we could just face King Boo, we were led to those other places first."

"And you're thinking...?"

"Well, it might not have anything to do with the places, just those creatures. Look, we fought that disgusting key-eyes soil monster, then we had to face Lakithunder, who zapped lightning bolts that were too fast for us to _see_—"

Just then Luigi cut his sentence short. Yoshi looked at him with an alarmed expression—he knew all _too_ well what that look on Luigi's face meant. His strange sleuthing talent had struck yet again.

"The eyes...," Luigi said, looking the eyes of the two Bowser statues, which he'd just realized where not made of granite like the rest of their bodies; they were made of small light detectors. He then looked at the gem on Yoshi's hand and something lit up on him.

"That's it, the eyes!" Luigi said with joy. Yoshi jumped at Luigi's sudden outburst.

"Whoa, Luigi, I think I demand an explanation for what got into you."

"Can't you see, Yoshi? _The eyes_—that's what we need with the gem!"

It was then that Yoshi also took a closer look at the eyes of the Bowser statues, and gave a gasp when he also realized they were light detectors.

"But how...?" Yoshi said.

"Look, when we battled in Yoshi's Island, we had to pay attention to the eyes, specifically the key-eyes where everything will a-be over. Then there was in World Seven, where I couldn't just rely on sight since Lakithunder's lightning attacks where too fast for me to _see_; I had to rely on my hearing for the thunder that inevitably followed. Then there was King Boo, where he showed us all those images that caused us to give up; we _saw_ them. Add to that the fact that there was the strobe light that a-_blinded_ all the other ghosts! So since each of our battles had something to do with sight, I figured...the answer was _at the eyes_!"

Yoshi felt like his jaw would drop at the sheer logic behind Luigi's explanation. Then he laughed. "You know, Luigi, they really _should make _another game with you on the lead—I think you'll do just _great_ on puzzle-solving games!"

Luigi laughed as well. "Huh, I'm seriously considering that. Now...let's talk more about that after we rescue Mario and the others. Gem, please."

Yoshi handed Luigi the gem. Taking a few steps back, Luigi held up the gem so the sun's rays could reflect it; the light bounced off King Boo's gem in four different rays. Then, moving a bit to adjust the rays' direction, the rays finally found their way to the light detectors.

There was a light _click_ that resulted, then a light rumble followed.

"Whoa," Luigi said.

"Yikes," Yoshi mumbled.

The rumble only lasted for a minute, then the massive Castle door opened.

Luigi and Yoshi tensed. They didn't like the sudden atmosphere going on behind the Castle door.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Luigi," Yoshi said.

"Me too—but _we're_ going in!" Luigi said as he and Yoshi went in.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

LOL, **KIR**—**K**oopa **I**ntelligence **R**esources. XD

Anyhoo, hooray for **30 chapters**! And it's also gonna the beginning of **the final battle**!

Yeah, sorry if it took so long to update this, but I'm pretty sure the fact that I uploaded _three chapters_ is enough to make up for it. (Hey, I have a life too, you know. -_-)

On a sad note, school shit is getting to me, and I'm being bombarded with a shit-ton of assignments and projects as it is. So, bad news, guys:

"**Luigi Gets His Hero On" is on an official hiatus.**

Meaning it'll take a while before I update a new chapter or two. :(

But on the meantime, I made a **concept art** celebrating the final battle and the 30th chapter of the story. (Link's on my profile page, my friends.)

_Stay tuned! _:D


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